Akatsuki doesn't seem to have any strict organizational structure, though its members do maintain several unique practices. They rarely seem to meet in person, instead communicating through telepathy and astral projection when necessary. When their entire group is introduced at the end of the first part of the series, meeting in an unspecified location through astral projection, one member notes that it had been seven years since they had all been together in such a fashion. Their meetings are much more frequent in the second part of the series due to their increased activity. The members of Akatsuki seem to have little consistency in their individual goals. They only group together because Akatsuki's overall goal in some way benefits the individual goals of its members. Akatsuki members don't particularly value the lives of their comrades, either; a member's death in itself will not bother the other members, but rather the fact that someone was able to kill that member. GOAL: Akatsuki's overall goal is world domination.[2] To achieve that goal, the leader has set up a three-step process to work their way to it. First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization.[3] Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal to no village.[4] To build their reputation, they plan to accept any mission below the usual cost, which is covered by the excess amount of funds earned in the first part of their plan. Because there haven't been any wars in some time, the established shinobi villages can't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages. By using the tailed beasts, Akatsuki can start wars and then immediately quell them, solidifying their reputation and convincing every country to depend on them, thus cornering the market in shinobi labor.[5] Without any business, the other shinobi villages will collapse due to a lack of funds. Finally, after Akatsuki is the only major force of shinobi in existence, they can easily conquer the other countries. As a large part of their plan, they actively hunt the tailed beasts and their hosts. Once a tailed beast or its host is captured, they seal them in a large statue for use at a later time. Akatsuki possesses seven tailed beasts: the one-tailed Shukaku, the two-tailed demon cat, the three-tailed demon, the four-tailed demon, and three other unknown demons.[6] TEAMS: Akatsuki members usually work in teams of two. Teams are built to complement each other's abilities and talents to create a formidable duo. For example, Kakuzu uses Hidan's immortality to their advantage by using large-scale attacks on those Hidan has pinned down; being immortal, Hidan survives what is normally fatal to his opponent. Due to Orochimaru's defection, their numbers are now uneven, so one or more members appear to be working alone. Currently, Zetsu, the leader, and the unnamed member are not known to be on any team. Each member thus far has shown at least a working loyalty to each other and their mysterious leader, and they have excellent working relationships. On a personal level, however, some of the team members exhibit outright animosity towards one another, though they do not let it get in the way of their missions. TAILED BEAST EXTRACTION: The sealing statue, and the members performing the sealing ritualWhenever an Akatsuki member captures a tailed beast or its host, it is taken to their lair. Once there, the Akatsuki leader summons a giant statue of a humanoid monster. The leader doesn't need to be present to summon the statue, nor do Akatsuki members need to be physically present for the statue to activate. Any Akatsuki members unable to reach the statue can use astral projection to appear at the statue. The statue itself seems to symbolize restriction or sealing; the creature's hands are handcuffed, its eyes are blindfolded, and a bit is in its mouth, which falls out when the Akatsuki members are sealing a tailed beast. On the creature's blindfold are nine closed eyes (eight eyes in two rows of four with the larger ninth eye in the center), each corresponding to one of the nine tailed beasts. The eyes don't appear to be in any specific order, as the eye representing the one-tailed Shukaku is the second on the upper row[7] while the eye representing the three-tailed beast is the third on the lower row,[8] and the four-tailed beast is the fourth on the lower row.[9] After the summoning, the host or tailed beast (depending on if it is sealed in a person or not) is placed in front of the statue while each Akatsuki member stands on the finger that corresponds to their specific ring. The members then perform Sealing Technique: Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals (��術・幻���尽, Fūin Jutsu: Genryū Kyū Fūjin?) to draw the spirit of the beast (or the beast itself) into the statue. Nine dragon-like effigies then pour from the statue's mouth, surround the captured host, and forcefully remove the tailed beast from them. In the case of an unsealed tailed beast, the same thing happens to the beast itself. Once the beast is sealed, all the eyes open, and the pupil of the eye that corresponds to the beast appears, indicating that it has been successfully sealed. The jutsu takes three days to complete. Kisame Hoshigaki commented that the jutsu takes longer without Orochimaru present, though whether this means that Orochimaru created the jutsu, or that the presence of all ten Akatsuki members is necessary for the greatest efficiency is unknown. Because of the large amount of time it takes to complete a sealing, Akatsuki members use Five Seal Barrier (���界, Gofū Kekkai?) to prevent interruption. The seal consists of placing five other seals: one to prevent entry to the lair, and four others to prevent the first from being removed. The five seals are spread across a wide area and must all be removed simultaneously, requiring an average team to split up to bring down the barrier. Once the seals are removed clones of those that removed them are created, capable of using all attacks in the original's arsenal and weapons in the original's possession. The clones don't seem to be as strong as the original, as all are defeated quickly with little damage to their counterpart. It's unknown if the statue serves any other purpose than to contain the captured tailed beasts. The statue apparently requires that the power sealed within it be balanced, as Kisame notes that sealing the nine-tailed fox before sealing the other eight tailed beasts would destroy the statue.[10] RINGS: Itachi's ring.Each Akatsuki member wears a single, unique ring, and no two members wear a ring on the same finger. Each member wears their ring on the same finger as the spot they occupy on the giant statue. In total, there are ten rings, but Akatsuki only possesses seven; Orochimaru kept his after defecting, and those worn by Hidan and Kakuzu have yet to be retrieved. The rings seem to have some special significance; Tobi believed that he could become a member after finding Sasori's ring, and although Zetsu claims it's not as easy as that, Tobi does indeed become a member. Deidara reinforces the significance of the rings after losing both his arms by expressing more concern for finding the arm with his ring, rather than finding the arm itself. Each ring bears a unique symbol, the first kanji of its name. A diagram showing every member's ring positionThe various rings are:[11] 零 rei, "zero": worn by the Akatsuki leader. �� Seiryū, the Azure Dragon: worn by Deidara. 白虎 Byakko, the White Tiger: worn by the unnamed member. 朱雀 Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird: worn by Itachi Uchiha. 玄武 Genbu, the Black Tortoise: worn by Zetsu. Zetsu's ring actually has the kanji 亥 (kai, boar) instead of 玄 (gen, mysteriousness). The two kanji are somewhat similar in appearance, which suggests an error by either the artist or the translator. 空陳 Kūchin, the Void: formerly worn by Orochimaru and still in his possession. �� Nanju, Sagittarius (lit. Southern Star): worn by Kisame. �� Hokuto, the Big Dipper (lit. Northern Star): worn by Kakuzu. 三� santai, "three levels": worn by Hidan. 玉女 gyokunyo, the Virgin: currently worn by Tobi, formerly worn by Sasori Clothing and appearance Common Akatsuki clothingAkatsuki members dress in similar clothing: a long, dark cloak bearing red clouds and a red interior with a chin-high collar. All members also wear purple nail polish on their fingernails and toenails (see ring image above). Large conical straw hats with small spike-like bells hanging from them also seem to be part of their outfit, but they discard them after being discovered. This seems to be an optional piece of the Akatsuki outfit, likely to further disguise their identities. Forehead protectors The members of Akatsuki continue to wear forehead protectors from their former home villages, but scratch a line across the symbol of their village. This is done to indicate that their ties to the village have been severed and they no longer give allegiance to their former homes. Currently, the Akatsuki leader, Tobi, Zetsu, and the one unnamed Akatsuki member have not been shown wearing forehead protectors, so it is unknown where they are originally from. Additionally, Hidan's forehead protector, while clearly visible, features a symbol not corresponding with any known village, so his place of origin is a mystery, as well. Members Akatsuki originally had ten members, but they are currently at seven following the defection of Orochimaru and the deaths of two members, Sasori and Kakuzu. Hidan is still alive, but permanently incapacitated and is considered dead in the eyes of the leader. Tobi, a former subordinate of the group, has taken Sasori's place. Orochimaru, however, has yet to be replaced, despite having left the group several years before its initial introduction; this is likely because Orochimaru took his Akatsuki ring with him when he left. Though all of the members have been shown to some degree, two have yet to be named. The first has had some dialogue and been attributed to being the leader, while the identity of the other remains a complete mystery. AKATSUKI LEADER: The Akatsuki leader's hologram.Membership status: Active leader Ring: 零 ("nothing") Ring position: Right thumb Partner: None or not yet identified First cameo: Chapter 238; Naruto Episode 135 First appearance: Chapter 254; Shippūden Episode 10 Defining characteristics: Spiked, auburn hair, unusual eyes and a pair of bridge piercings or tattoos. The leader of Akatsuki is a mysterious figure. None of the other Akatsuki members refer to him by name, instead simply calling him "leader," and his face is rarely shown. He has the respect of most of his subordinates (Hidan is an exception) and is the one directing their actions. He is also the one to initiate and supervise the jutsu that forcibly brings a tailed beast out of its host. He can also use the Shapeshifting Technique (象転�術, Sh�ten no Jutsu?) to clone his subordinates using human sacrifices, allowing them to engage the enemy without risking themselves. The clones formed are a perfect copy of the target, even possessing the kekkei genkai and unique weapons of the original. Their abilities are proportionate to the amount of chakra given to the clone (in its debut, the leader requested thirty percent). When it becomes necessary to gather his subordinates, he can communicate with them over long distances through some form of telepathy. The lower half of the leader's face.While the leader has remained mostly anonymous, the cover of chapter 317 depicts him with auburn hair and a glimpse of his lower face shows what appears to be either tattoos or piercings on either side of his nose.[12] He is seen sitting on an odd statue with many tubes winding through it, commenting that Hidan and Kakuzu are always causing trouble. The statue is located in a city much more modern than is common for the series, and has tubes similar to those in the statue winding through its various buildings. The leader has displayed at least a cursory knowledge of the various villages, as well as the underlying political and economic conditions in the country at large. When Hidan referred to the Konoha-nin as "godless heathens," the leader gave a short description of Konoha's "Will of Fire," then proceeded to note that all countries have some similar practice to justify their battles.[13] DEIDARA: DeidaraMembership status: Active Ring: � ("blue", "green") Ring position: Right index finger Partner: Tobi, formerly Sasori First cameo: Chapter 238; Naruto Episode 135 First appearance: Chapter 247; Shippūden Episode 2 Defining characteristics: Specialist in explosive-based jutsu using clay, clay manipulation with mouths in palms of hands, scope on left eye, left eye trained to counter Sharingan genjutsu Seiyu: Katsuhiko Kawamoto One of Deidara's palm-mouths.Deidara (デイダラ, Deidara?) is a missing-nin from Iwagakure and the partner of Tobi. A fancy and skillful fighter, Deidara uses special mouths in the palm of each hand to create Exploding Clay (起爆粘土, Kibaku Nendo?), ranked by number in a fashion similar to C-4. As the name suggests, Deidara can make the clay explode using the command Katsu (�, Katsu?). By infusing the clay with chakra and molding it into various forms, Deidara can create living explosives to sneak up on opponents. Deidara can even create clones from the clay, named Suicide Bombing Clones (自爆分身, Jibaku Bunshin?), that can be a deadly surprise for opponents. Deidara's clay creations can range from microscopic to gigantic in size, allowing him to adapt to any situation. Deidara can also use the clay for other purposes, as he is frequently seen creating birds to be used for transportation. Deidara wears a scope on his left eye for long-range observation, and he has trained the eye itself to dispel genjutsu, which he did in response to Itachi's powerful genjutsu skills. Deidara refers to his ninjutsu as art, believing each bomb he makes to be such works. He refers to style as superflat (the word itself used to refer to certain types of manga), and claims pop is dead. One of Deidara's catchphrases, "Art is a bang" (or variations therein), was originally coined by famous Japanese abstract artist Tar� Okamoto. Deidara is very proud of his art, to the point that he is simply unwilling to accept that anything could defeat it, leading to frequent overconfidence in battle. Deidara's gender is sometimes confused due to the Japanese language's sparse use of third person pronouns, which forces translators to use their own ideas of Deidara's gender to make sentences flow smoothly. This caused a lot of confusion, since both "he" and "she" were used to refer to Deidara in early English fan translations. However, Deidara speaks of himself using male pronouns and was initially given a very deep, male voice in the anime. His current anime voice is significantly lighter, but still clearly masculine. Deidara also has a habit of ending his sentences with a mumble/grunt, usually transcribed as un or mmm, in the same way Naruto ends most of his sentences with -ttebayo. Deidara has become the most popular member of Akatsuki among fans in Japan. In the most recent character popularity poll, Deidara ranked in third place, even higher than Naruto Uzumaki. Before joining Akatsuki, Deidara was a terrorist bomber for hire, seeing it as an opportunity to use his "art" on a regular basis. He was recruited by Itachi under the orders of the leader, who partners him with Sasori. Deidara refers to Sasori as Master Sasori (サソリ��那, Sasori no Danna?). This is probably because Deidara greatly respects him as a fellow artist. He also admits that Sasori was a lot stronger. Despite that, Deidara still argued with Sasori about what art is and directly disobeyed his command in spite of a threat to be killed. Deidara held that art is transient, departing quickly. Sasori believed that fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future. This reflects their individual natures (Deidara makes clay sculptures that explode, Sasori makes long-lasting puppets out of humans). Deidara outwardly seems to respect Sasori's beliefs, but couldn't resist getting a final jab in after Sasori's death: "Like anything that is left for the future as a thing of eternal beauty... He got killed straight off!" Deidara is assigned to capture the one-tailed beast, which requires capturing Gaara. While he succeeds in this task, Gaara is able to crush one of his arms before being defeated. After the beast is extracted from Gaara's body and a rescue team attempts to retrieve him, Deidara has his second arm severed, though makes sure to find it after he manages to escape. Both of his arms are repaired by Kakuzu, allowing him to return to battle-readiness. After Sasori's death, Tobi is assigned as Deidara's new partner. Deidara gets impatient with Tobi fairly easily, since Tobi rarely pays attention to what he is saying. Tobi also tends to take credit for their work, despite whatever Deidara did. After they capture the three-tailed beast, Deidara lectures Tobi about being too overconfident. He becomes greatly annoyed when he discovers that Tobi has fallen asleep and proceeds to "wake him" by blasting Tobi with his exploding clay. ITACHI UCHIHA: Main article: Itachi Uchiha Membership status: Active Ring: 朱 ("scarlet", "bloody") Ring position: Right ring finger Partner: Kisame Hoshigaki Defining characteristics: Mastery of the Sharingan and Mangekyo Sharingan, mastery of genjutsu, mastery of Uchiha fire-based jutsu Itachi Uchiha, a missing-nin from Konohagakure, is the partner of Kisame Hoshigaki and the first Akatsuki member to be introduced. Itachi is one of the last remaining members of the Uchiha Clan, the other his brother Sasuke Uchiha. He has caused many events in the series, such as killing the Uchiha Clan and revealing to Konoha the presence of Akatsuki. Itachi has complete mastery of the Sharingan and Mangekyo Sharingan, and also a master of ninjutsu and genjutsu. KISAME HOSHIGAKI: Kisame HoshigakiAge: 29 in Part I[14], 31 in Part II Membership status: Active Height: 195 cm[14] Weight: 83.1 kg[14] Birthday: March 18[14] Blood type: AB[14] Ring: � ("south") Ring position: Left ring finger Partner: Itachi Uchiha First appearance: Chapter 139; Naruto Episode 80 Defining characteristics: Shark-like appearance, expert in water-based jutsu, exceptionally large chakra supply, high physical strength and speed, Samehada (sentient, chakra-absorbing sword). Seiyu: Tomoyuki Dan Voice actor: Kirk Thornton Kisame Hoshigaki (干柿鬼鮫, Hoshigaki Kisame?) is a missing-nin from Kirigakure and is partnered with Itachi Uchiha. Unlike most other two-man teams of Akatsuki, Kisame gets along well with his partner. While Itachi is assigned to Naruto Uzumaki, Kisame's target is the host of the four-tailed beast, an elderly man whom Kisame defeats with some effort.[15] Kisame has a distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with pale blue skin, small white eyes, gill-like facial structures, and sharp triangular teeth. Even his name, Kisame (鬼鮫), means "Demon Shark". Despite his rather brutish appearance and his apparent love for battle, Kisame speaks in a calm and polite manner compared to most of the other members of Akatsuki. Kisame was also one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist (霧��刀七人衆, Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū?) and is known as the Scourge (怪人, kaijin?) of the Hidden Mist. Zabuza Momochi and Raiga Kurosuki were also members. Like the other two members, he is somewhat overconfident in battle. He also clearly enjoys fighting and possibly mutilating his opponents; for example, he entertains the idea of removing Naruto's legs to keep him from running instead of the much simpler method of knocking Naruto unconscious. During his battle with Asuma Sarutobi, Kisame also took great pleasure in shredding his shoulder with Samehada. Kisame's main weapon is Samehada (鮫肌, "Shark skin"), a large unique sword of comparable size to Zabuza Momochi's zanbat�. Unlike a regular sword, Samehada is covered in large scales that shave instead of cut, much like a shark's skin (hence the name). It also has the ability to absorb any chakra around it, allowing Kisame to literally cut through his opponent's chakra. The amount that it can absorb is unclear, but it can even consume the demon fox's chakra with no ill effects. Samehada is also a sentient weapon and only allows Kisame to wield it.[16] When Might Guy attempted to hold Samehada and use it against Kisame, it responded with a flurry of spikes from its handle and found its way back to Kisame.[17] The amount of chakra Kisame possesses is apparently very large, even by Akatsuki's standards. Their leader commented on this; a Kisame body-double at thirty-percent power – made with the leader's Shapeshifting Technique – had as much chakra as Naruto while drawing on demon fox's chakra when he fought Neji during the Chunin exams, an observation made by Neji Hyuga when he observed Kisame's body-double with his Byakugan.[18] Kisame has displayed astonishing speed and incredible physical strength. He uses water-based jutsu in combination with his powerful physical attacks. He has also demonstrated the ability to use Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave (水�・爆水�波, Suiton: Bakusui Sh�ha?), allowing him to create water from nothing[19] and turn any potential battleground into a lake for his other water-based attacks. In addition to using the more generic of water-based jutsu, Kisame also uses a number of shark-themed jutsu, such as using Water Release: Water Shark Missile Technique (水�・水鮫弾�術, Suiton: Suik�dan no Jutsu?, English TV "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu") to attack opponents with a burst of water in the form of a shark. When an opponent is knocked into a body of water, Kisame can use Water Release: Five Eating Sharks (水�・�食鮫, Suiton: Goshokuzame?) to create five shark to attack them with. TOBI: TobiMembership status: Active Ring: 玉 ("jewel", "ball"; "jade"; also the king in shogi) Ring position: Left thumb Partner: Deidara First appearance: Chapter 280 Defining characteristics: Orange mask with single eye-hole covered in a swirl pattern concentrated towards the right eye Tobi (トビ, Tobi?), formerly Zetsu's subordinate, became a full Akatsuki member after Sasori's death. He now wears the same ring as Sasori, having recovered it after Sasori's death, and took his place as Deidara's partner. Unlike the majority of ninja thus far, Tobi has not been shown wearing a visible forehead protector, so his place of origin is unknown. He wears an odd mask that covers his entire face save for his right eye. Furthermore, Tobi has several bolts or pins present on the arms of his uniform, now obscured by his Akatsuki cloak. Tobi's area of expertise remains unclear, as he has never been shown fighting. He and Deidara have defeated the three-tailed beast, but Tobi is never shown doing anything but running from it. After the battle, which goes largely unwitnessed, Tobi claims to have knocked it out with a single attack. Deidara disagrees with the assessment, claiming that it was his "artistic contribution" (exploding clay) that allowed them to win. During his fight with Sasuke, Tobi shows the ability to recover from what are presumably debilitating or fatal blows. After being slashed across the midsection by Sasuke's sword, Tobi collapses, only to stand up again a few seconds later and complain about the speed of the attack. Aside from this, Tobi has yet to demonstrate any techniques. Tobi has a very formal and correct manner of speech. While his physical appearance remains a mystery, Zetsu has implied that he is relatively young when one side of him referred to Tobi as a "good boy." He respects Deidara, referring to him as Deidara-senpai. Tobi's personality is rather odd in comparison with other Akatsuki members. While most of the members are dedicated and serious, though somewhat argumentative or even hostile towards each other when not fighting, Tobi is more carefree and goofy, much like Naruto. His personality does not please Deidara, who believes that all Akatsuki members should be serious and calm. Tobi unintentionally irritates Deidara frequently, which usually results in Deidara attacking Tobi in a comedic fashion. UNNAMED MEMBER: The unnamed Akatsuki memberMembership status: Active Ring: 白 ("white") Ring position: Right middle finger Partner: None or not yet identified First cameo: Chapter 238, Naruto Episode 135 First appearance: None Defining characteristics: Flower-like accessory in hair This member has blue hair with some sort of flower-like accessory in it, but beyond that this member remains a mystery. This member has yet to play a part in the actual storyline as anything other than a shadowy apparition during the sealing ritual, and the only physical appearance of this member is on the cover of Chapter 317 of the manga, which shows a distant view of his or her back. ZETSU: ZetsuMembership status: Active Ring: 亥 ("boar") Ring position: Right little finger Partner: None or not yet identified First appearance: Chapter 234; Naruto Episode 134 Defining characteristics: Venus-flytrap like extensions around body, dual personality, body split into white and black halves, cannibal. Seiyu: Nobuo Tobita Zetsu (ゼツ, Zetsu?) is a mysterious missing-nin. Not much is known about him, other than his allegiance to Akatsuki and his function as a spy. His head appears to be enveloped in a large venus flytrap, which can also envelop the rest of his body. The right side of his face and body is black in color while his left side is white in color. To go with this, Zetsu seems to have a split personality, as the black half of his face speaks only in Katakana while the white side uses Kanji and Kana. The two halves also seem to converse with each other, and occasionally differ in opinion, such as whether to allow Tobi to fill Sasori's place in Akatsuki. His eyes are yellow and pupil-less. Zetsu frequently uses Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique (蛭万象・防��術, Hiru Bansh�: B�ka no Jutsu?), allowing him to merge with the ground, trees, and other plants to travel long distances fairly quickly. He has also shown the ability to move his body during the sealing ritual, which no other Akatsuki member is capable of. As such, he serves as a lookout during the ritual. In addition to his role as a spy, Zetsu appears to function as Akatsuki's hunter-nin. He is sent to dispose of the corpses of those used for the leader's Shapeshifting Technique, as well as recover the rings of Sasori and Deidara. He performs the former function by devouring the corpses, which fits with his "venus flytrap" theme. Zetsu's only known subordinate is Tobi, who later took Sasori's position in Akatsuki after Sasori's death. Akatsuki members have so far generally seemed to report to Zetsu as if he was a superior, though perhaps only because he is often acting directly on the instructions of the leader. HIDAN: Main article: Hidan Membership status: Neutralized, unreplaced Ring: 三 ("three") Ring position: Left index finger Partner: Formerly Kakuzu Defining characteristics: Immortal, wields large three-bladed scythe Hidan (飛段, Hidan?) is a missing-nin from an unknown village and is the second-newest member of Akatsuki,[20] Tobi being the newest. Unlike the other members of Akatsuki, the Akatsuki leader does not seem to have Hidan's respect. He is the partner of Kakuzu, despite their obvious dislike of one another. Kakuzu has little patience for Hidan's battle style, rituals, and speeches, which he believes take far too long. Hidan, in turn, detests how Kakuzu fights solely for money. He was eventually dismembered and buried alive by Shikamaru Nara. The leader considers him to be effectively dead.[21] KAKUZU: Main article: Kakuzu Membership status: Deceased, unreplaced Ring: � ("north") Ring position: Left middle finger Partner: Formerly Hidan Definining characteristics: Able to extend life indefinitely through extraction and incorporation of foreign human hearts, can possess five human hearts at once, able to use all five chakra elements, body contains many threads for attack and body manipulation Kakuzu (角都, Kakuzu?) is a missing-nin from Takigakure and Hidan's partner. He and Hidan display the most animosity towards each other out of all members of Akatsuki, neither being very fond of the other's interests. The two often trade barbs with one-another, Kakuzu's usually being better timed than Hidan's. He at one point identified himself as the Treasurer of Akatsuki and he often turns in bounties, even during his missions. Kakuzu is the longest-lived known character in the series, having lived at least since the time of the First Hokage, whom Kakuzu mentions having fought at one point (he does not elaborate on the outcome). Kakuzu is defeated by Naruto Uzumaki and finished off by Kakashi Hatake. His partner, Hidan, is considered dead by the Leader. OROCHIMARU: Orochimaru's severed left hand of his original bodyMain article: Orochimaru Membership status: Defected, unreplaced Ring: 空 ("sky") Ring position: Left little finger Partner: Formerly Sasori Defining characteristics: Snake-like appearance, able to extend life via transferring soul into new bodies, mastery of snake-based jutsu, able to extend body parts to great lengths Orochimaru was formerly a member of Akatsuki, where he worked as Sasori's partner. He eventually attempted to use his Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu to steal the body of Itachi Uchiha, a fellow member, six years before the start of the series. Itachi responded, effortlessly paralyzing him and severing his left hand. After this incident, Orochimaru left Akatsuki. Upon leaving, he kept his Akatsuki ring, which is currently still on the hand of his original body. The apparent special nature of his ring, his knowledge of their plans, and bad blood have led to him being the target of a number of Akatsuki plots, one of which involved a member of his retinue being a (eventually double) sleeper agent. Orochimaru intended to eliminate Akatsuki, as well; however, he is currently presumed to be dead. Whatever their remaining connections were, Orochimaru and Akatsuki also seemed to have been working off similar timetables, as the three years it takes Orochimaru to prepare to take over Sasuke's body seem to coincide with Akatsuki's plans for capturing more tailed beasts. SASORI: Main article: Sasori Membership status: Deceased, replaced (by Tobi) Ring: 玉 ("jewel", "ball", also the king in shogi) Ring position: Left thumb Partner: Formerly Deidara, Orochimaru before that Defining characteristics: Puppet master, puppet body, human puppets, poison specialist Sasori was Deidara's first partner in Akatsuki. A powerful ninja puppeteer, he was a missing-nin from Sunagakure. In the Rescue Gaara arc, he assisted Deidara in his mission to capture Gaara from Sunagakure. While there, he fought against Kankuro, nearly killing him and easily destroying Kankuro's puppets in the process. After Gaara was delivered to the Akatsuki lair, he acted as a rear-guard for the rest of Akatsuki, fighting Sakura and his grandmother Chiyo. This battle turned out to be his last, as he was eliminated by two puppets he designed himself, "Mother" and "Father" (his actual mother and father converted into puppets), which Chiyo had taken possession of after Sasori left the village. Sasori possessed double agents for Akatsuki in at least two other organizations. He had planted Yura as a spy in the Sunagakure council and Kabuto Yakushi in Orochimaru's retinue, both of which had memory-control jutsu placed on them. Orochimaru undid Sasori's control over Kabuto's memories. At the time of his death, Sasori had not yet captured his demon, and may have not yet known which one he was assigned to. His position was assumed by Tobi. FORMER AGENTS: KABUTO YAKUSHI: Main article: Kabuto Yakushi Status: Defected Kabuto Yakushi was a former spy for Sasori, forced into the position through a form of mind control. Kabuto was used by Sasori to infiltrate Orochimaru's group, but Orochimaru removed the mind control on Kabuto shortly after he joined. Kabuto then betrayed Sasori and Akatsuki in favor of Orochimaru. YURA: YuraStatus: Deceased Rank: Jonin Debut: Chapter 247, Shippūden episode 2 Seiyu: Hideo Watanabe Yura (�良, Yūra?), whose name means "beginning" in Japanese, served as a trusted member of the Kazekage advisory council of Sunagakure for four years. In reality, he was a sleeper agent for Akatsuki and a subordinate of Sasori. He was used in the Akatsuki leader's Shapeshifting Technique, which made him take on the shape of Itachi Uchiha and allowed Itachi to take control of his body. Naruto killed him with his Great Ball Rasengan while in this form. .............................................................MY STORIES ...^.^....................................................... "Ok, I'm lost." You sigh. You were lost in the woods. This was a long way away from your viillage, Karine. You plopped down beside a tree, and held your neck. There, on your neck, was a black kanji that read, Rain. Everyone in your clan had one, but you couldn't prove that, seeing as you were the only one in your clan left. Well, except your cousin, who was named after the village, so his name was Ame. He is no longer considered family. You heard voices heading this way, which knocked you out of your thoughts. "Isn't she supposed to be here, un?" It sounded like a male, apperently he was talking to someone else, so you quickly hid. "She is probably hiding." It was another guy. 'They must be talking about me, cause they're the only ones I can sense in the forest other than me.' "Come out, yeah!" The first voice called. 'Well might as well...' You stood up. "Hey there." You waved at the people. Upon closer examination, you saw they were wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them, the first one had blond hair in a ponytail above his head and some of his hair covered the left side of his face, and grey eyes. The other one had red hair, and red eyes. "Alright, are you Akatsuki?" You asked with your head tilted. They looked a little shocked, but nodded. "Ok, so what do you want?"You ask "Come with us." The second one said. "Ok, I'll come if ya tell me your names." "Sasori." "Deidara, yeah." "Ok, lead the way." The one called Deidara did a jutsu and made a bird. "Alright, that's cool. O.O" He laughed and hopped on it, and so did Sasori. You followed. The bird took off, and you lurched forward a little. "Hmm, good thing I'm not afraid of heights, ne?" You guys flew for a few hours and finally landed. "Huh? Ok, why are we here?" They ignored your question. "Follow me, yeah." Deidara told you. You followed him down a hallway, and stopped infront of a door. He knocked. "Enter." A voice boomed. Deidara opened the door for you, and you walked in with your hands in your pockets. You saw a shady figure, that looked like a person. "Sit." It told you. You sat down on the floor. "I would like you to join the Akatsuki." He said simply. "Ok, why me?" You asked. "You are strong, intelligent, and a very talented ninja, with a powerful jutsu. Why else?" "Hmm, and if I refuse?" "You die."He Snickered. "*sigh* Ok, I'll join." You give in, and start playing with your soft brown hair. "You may go, Deidara will show you around, get you some clothes, ect." You nod and show yourself to the door. Deidara is waiting outside the door. "What did Leader-sama say, un?" "I'm in the Akatsuki and you're supposed to show me around, get me clothes, ect." "Well, let's get you a room first, un." He said and led you down the hallway again. "you'll have to share with Sasori-sama and me, yeah." "Alright, whatever." He showed you your room, that had black walls, with a red carpet, and got you a new set of clothes and a cloak. You went into the bathroom conected to your room and changed. You put the cloak over it, and went back into the bedroom. Deidara was gone. "OK, WHERE'D HE GO!?" You yelled. Sasori walked into the room with his hands over his ears. "You're loud." He stated. "Ok, I know that. I'm tired. Ok, I'll go to sleep now." You walked over to one of the beds in the room and laid down. You instantly fall asleep. When you wake up, Deidara was sitting at the desk in the room, making something with clay. You grinned evilly. Quietly, you snuck up behind him. "Okay, what cha doin?" You whispered in his ear, and it made him jump. You laughed. He got up and started towards you, with an angry look on his face. " SASORI!" You scream loudly, as Deidara pins you to the wall by your wrists. A puppet waddles into the room. His face is like O_O when he sees Deidara and you. Deidara instantly lets you go, and turns away blushing. You fall down to the ground with a thud. Sasori is still freaked out and now is twitching slightly, your holding your wrists, glaring at Deidara, and Deidara said he had to go do something and left. "What the hell happened?" Sasori finally says. "Alright, I scared him and he got mad. Now I'm hungry, so cya. Ok?I need to find the kitchen." So you walked out of the bedroom and walked down the long, maze-like hallway. Somehow, you found the kitchen, but there were two people already there. Deidara, and some shark-looking guy. Deidara saw you and walked out of the room. Fishy gave you a look that said 'Who the hell are you'? "Ok, I'm Karine. I'm new in the Akatsuki. Now stop giving me that look or I will destroy you. Sure, I'm already in a bad enough mood." He laughed. You got angry. Your bright golden eyes began to darken. You punched him in the gut, hard. He was sent flying into the wall with a crash. It made a big dent in the wall. "Alright, that was a little too hard..." You said out loud. Another guy toppled in. He had his raven hair pulled back into a ponytail, and he had black eyes, when those eyes saw you, they quickly turned red. "Hm? Ok, you must be a Uchiha, ne?" "Yes." He replied. You nodded and walked out of the room, completely forgetting you were hungry. DO NOT CLICK THAT BUTTON >.< *A few weeks later* Over the last couple weeks, you had met everyone else in the Akatsuki. Itachi, the phsyco guy, Kisame(who you call Sushi), the shark man, Zetsu, the plant headed cannibal, Hidan, the religious person, Kakuzu, the money-obsessed dude, and poor little Tobi, who isn't even a member. Right now it was a quiet night time.You were sitting on the couch with Zetsu and Itachi. Why were the two most non-social people in the same room? you didn't know. Itachi was watching Animal Planet and Zetsu was eating something that looked like an arm. You turned your attention to the door as Deidara entered the room. He came over and sat next to you on the couch. "What are you doing, un?" "Watching TV with Itachi for some reason....SHHH!"You watched animals attack each other for about ten minutes before you got bored. "Ok, I'm bored. Who wants to play Go Fish? ^.^" Kakuzu rushed in the room. "I'll play if we play for money!" "^-^' Ok, sure." Deidara said he was going to play too, Hidan was gonna play as well, but you had to tell him to shut up about every two minutes. "Ok, got any 3s?" "No, Go fish, un." This went on for about two hours, until Hidan got mad and cut the table in half. You went to your room with Deidara. You and him talked until you got to the room. Sasori had gone on a mission, so you and Deidara had the room to yourselves.You took off your cloak and set it on your bed. *DEIDARA'S THOUGHTS* 'Wow, un. she's pretty. WAIT! I DID NOT JUST THINK THAT!' " Hello??? Earth to Deidara-san..." Karine said, waving her hand in front of your face. "Huh, yeah?" "Alright, you were staring at me."She mumbled back ^-^' You started to blush. "S-sorry, yeah." *YOUR THOUGHTS* 'He's acting funny. Ok, oh well, he'll be fine.' You shrug and go into the bathroom to change. Once in your pajamas, a black tanktop and a pair of black shorts both with red clouds on 'em, you lay down on your bed and fall asleep. Deidara was gone. You opened your eyes. You saw a black wall with red clouds on it. Wow, the same old wall. You sat up silently, you looked over at the desk to see if Deidara was there. He wasn't. "Ok, that's wierd." He was usually sitting there in the mornings, making stuff with his clay. But despite the fact you were wondering where he was, you got up and got dressed in your black knee pants, and black tanktop. You put your cloak on, but left it unbuttoned. The door opened and you spun around. There, in the doorway, was Sasori. He looked tired. "Oh, hello Sasori-sama." "Hey." He got into his bed and fell asleep. 'Wow he must be very tired.' you thought. You shrugged and walked out of the bedroom into the dark hallway of the cave/lair thingy. When you entered the kitchen, Kisame, Itachi, and Hidan were there. "Ok, hello." You greeted them. Itachi glared at you like he usually does, Hidan jumped up and hugged you (note: He usually does that to you, just so you know), and Kisame kinda hid behind Itachi XD. "You guys know where Deidara is?" You asked. "I think he went on a mission early this morning." Hidan said. You sighed and made breakfast for everyone, except Zetsu (cause you don't cook for canibals XP). by the time you were done with making breakfast, everyone had left. "GOD DAMN YOU ALL.... WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS LEAVE BEFORE YOU GET YOUR FOOD!?" You punched a BIG hole in the wall. "HEY!" Unluckly, it was Kakuzu's room -_-'. "Ok, my bad ^-^' "you say with a guilty face. He yelled at you for about 10 full minutes about how much money that would cost to fix,... or at least until you punched him in the head. "OK, NOW SHUT UP!"You scream back. You put his food in his, and Hidan's room and headed off to the other's rooms. Only one was left, Sasori. "Ok, I forgot, he doesn't eat." You sweatdropped. "Well fudge monkey..." You sighed and put the food on the counter in the kitchen and went to your room. Sasori was still asleep. You took a better look at him and saw he was dirty and had blood covered all over him. " *sigh* Ok, Sasori-sama, wakeup. You gotta take a shower or somethin' before you get the bed dirty."...SNORES... *evil grin* Ok, if you won't get up, I'm just going to have to kiss you." With that he shot up faster than anything you've ever seen. He glared at you. "Geez I was just kidding, god." He got up and went to the bathroom. You jumped on your bed, and laid down. "It's Nap time."You grin. And you fell asleep. *SARORI'S THOUGHTS" I got done with my shower, and went out of the bathroom(and he has clothes on you perverts) Once in the bedroom, I saw that Karine had fallen asleep. 'She is so beautiful...WAIT, WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?!' I thought and shook my head. Since I was still tired, I slid into my bed again and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was about 12 am. Karine was gone. I found her in the living room, watching TV......on the floor -_-'. "You know, we do have a couch."You say. She smiled. 'what the....' She had such a fake smile... * BACK TO YOUR THOUGHTS* "I know that, Sasori-sama. Ok, I just have a habit of sitting on the floor when I'm alone." You say with your fake smile. 'Fake smile....the only kind of smile I have....' He sighed and sat on the couch. You hopped up and sat next to him. You two watched TV for about an hour or so, before you started to get tired. Your eyelids flickered a few times, and soon you fell asleep. *SASORI'S THOUGHTS* I felt something hit my shoulder. It was Karine, she had fallen asleep and fell on my shoulder. 'She is even more beautiful close up. DAMMIT! STOP THINKING THAT!' I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. I carried Karine bridal-style back to our room and put her on her bed. I moved her dark brown hair out of her face, and looked at her. Before I knew it, my lips were lightly on hers. I pulled back quickly, afraid she might wake up. I quickly left the room, back down the hall into the living room. Unknown to me that someone was watching, and was very angry. *DEIDARA'S THOUGHTS* I had just gotten back from my mission, I was in the doorway of my room, and I saw Sasori-danna kissing Karine, who was laying on the bed. He snapped up quickly and while I hid. I was angry when I saw him walk down the hall into the living room. 'Wait, un. Why am I angry about that?' I asked myself. I kept questioning myself about this for some time, before I realised that I was very tired. I walked into my room and rumbled in my bed, and soon I fell asleep. *KARINE'S THOUGHTS~(YOURS) (this is the next morning) Today Leader-sama was giving you a mission by yourself. You were finally going to get a partner. He said the person's name was Deimos Maeve which meant Terror Intoxicating. 'Wonder if this person's strong?' You thought to yourself. You were in your room you shared with Deidara and Sasori, getting ready to leave. Deidara was watching you for some reason, and Sasori's whereabouts were unknown. "Ok, what are you staring at Dei?" You had come up with this nickname a few weeks ago. "Nothing Aka, yeah." He said, but still stared at you. You laughed inwardly, and picked up a small bag of clothes. You were going to be gone for maybe two days, depending on how long it was going to take to retrieve the new member. "Ok, I'm leaving now. Bye" His face fell, he looked really sad. You got an idea, and your evil little smirk worked it's way onto your face. "Hey, Deidara" You walked over to him. "I'll miss you." You said and pecked him on the lips, then ran out the door, laughing your butt off. *DEIDARA'S THOUGHTS* I was frozen to the spot with shock. 'Did she just.......kiss me?' *KARINE'S THOUGHTS (YOU) You were still laughing as you walked down the hall. Suddenly Tobi appeared out of no where. "Oh Hey Tobi." You said to him, still giggling. "What's so funny Aka-san?" "Oh nothing, go ask Deidara" You said and poofed out of the cave/lair/hideout thingy. You started walking. It was a long way from here to get where you were going. ~about an hour later~ You were getting bored, which happens often, so you started to sing ^.^. You finished your song and walked on. Destination: Konohagakure, the Leaf Village. A few hours passed and you were at the gates of Konoha. There were two guards there. Before you went up to the gate you took off your cloak so you would look normal, you also took off your headband and put it in your bag. Once if front of the gate, the guards asked you who you were. You quickly thought of a fake name. "Chira Sayuri(made it up)." "Why are you here?" Did they never stop asking questions?! "Pleasure. I'm on vacation from work." It was sort of true. Leader-sama said if you had time, go enjoy yourself. "Ok, go on in." They opened the gate and you went in. People were everywhere, gathered around shops. You sighed, hating crowds of people. Anyway, you walked down the busy street, the only thought you had was to get away from these people before one of them even recognized you. 'It's all her fault!' You mentaly screamed, throwing back your head, in doing so earning a few glances. You sped up some. This was going to take some time. You decided to look around some food places since it was around lunch time. ~half an hour later~ You were trying one more place before finding an inn. It was a ramen shop or something like that. There was four people there. One was a blond kid in an orange jumpsuit, the one beside him was a girl with funky pink hair, and beside her was another guy. 'Hm?' He looked somewhat like Itachi but maybe a few years younger. The last person there was a girl with short brown hair and red bangs, her back was turned and she was sitting away from the rest of them. She had a jounin vest on. which was wierd, becuase she had crutches beside her. You looked over the crutches and noticed they retraced. 'Intresting.' This jounin had on drak gray knee shorts(I like knee shorts ^.^), that had many pockets and zippers spread around them, on the belt loops, hung two black ribbons, and a square cut shirt with crismon sleeves. You also saw a mark on her left leg, like a wound of some sort. You tilted your head in thought. The bar owner noticed you standing there and greeted you. The 4 people turned around to look at you. 'shit!' The girl you were staring at was now staring at you,and must have recognized you, because she showed reconization(sp?). You waved at her, and sat down beside her. "Ok, hello." You said. The three beside you were looking at you like O.O. "Hiyas" she said back with a smile. "Is your name Deimos Maeve?" You asked her ,smiling your fake smile. "Yes I am. =)" "Ok, may I speak with you in private then?" You asked with your eyes closed and your head tilted. "Sure." She payed for her food and she picked up her crutches and followed you, leaving behind,a few young, but very confused gennin. You walked down a quiet alley, and stopped. "What do you want?" "Ok, I should warn you first. Alright, I'm supposed to kill you if you say no." "Oks." She said with a hint of fear in her voice. "Rei-dono would like you to join the Akatsuki." You said it like he had said it to you. She pondered this for a second. "Ok, sure why not." she said and smiled. ~Back at the hideout!~ "Ok, this is our room" You said to Deimos. "You and I will be sharing it from now on." You left her to unpack her things. Now you had to get her uniform. After a few turns down the hall, you find the......place where you keep the uniforms! (XD couldn't think of anything else) You grab a cloak, a pair of shoes, a hat, and a bottle of inky nailpolish. 'Wonder if Rei-dono will give her a ring...' Back at the room, you found Deimos sitting on her bed, crutches beside her. You throw her uniform to her, which she caught, and said "Ok, paint your nails, fingers and toes, put on that cloak, and-" You tossed her a kunai, which she also caught. "-scratch it through your headband. Then go see Rei-dono, down the hall, take a right, then another right, and third door to the left." You said the directions slowly, it was quite easy to get lost. You walked down to your old room which you had shared with Sasori and Deidara. Sasori had been disappearing every now and then and Deidara was trying to avoid you. Key word: trying. He seemed to be where ever you are. You hadn't been paying attention to where you were going and now you realized you shouldn't be here for two reasons, 1) This was Deidara's and Sasori's room and 2) Deidara was sitting on his bed......naked with a towel covering his lower half. He jumped up when you entered the room, unfortunalty the towel fell to the ground. (>:D I'm evil XD) You quickly covered your eyes. "MAYBE IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO PUT YOUR CLOTHES ON!"You heard him mutter something darkly, and shuffling. A drawer slammed, and he said "You can open your eyes now, un." You opened your eyes and he was in the bathroom, but the door was open. You couldn't see him though, you were still standing in the doorway. "Ok, why didn't you have clothes on?!" "I just go out of the shower, yeah." "oh..." He came out of the bathroom with a skin tight, white, sleveless shirt on and a pair of black knee shorts (I absolutely love knee shorts). 'Holy shit...." You felt the blood rush to your face, but you didn't notice. "uh...I....I have to go find....uh.....SASORI-SAMA!" And you ran out of the room, leaving a confused, partly sad and blushing Deidara. You actually didn't PLAN ON finding Sasori, but oh well. He had obviously heard the noise and came to find the source. You stared at him, your blushing increasing slowly. "shit..." He didn't have his cloak on (all the Akatsuki is partly naked today! XD), or a shirt. He stared at you like he had never seen you before. "ok, uh hello Sasori-sama...." He nodded. You turned to leave this god damned hall before any more half naked men walked in... (OMG BEST DREAM EVER XD), BUT! your wrists were grabbed and forcefully pined against the wall. "HEY WHAT TH-" You were stopped by a mouth over yours. You blinked, your vision had been shaken, and you saw Sasori infront of you, his hands at your wrists, his mouth over yours. Your eyes closed unconciously. You wanted to hug him, but you couldn't due to his hands. You pulled back, hitting your head softly on the wall. He frowned sadly and looked down. "Ok, let go." He ignored. "Please let go Sasori-kun" His head snapped up at the last word and his grip loosened. "You'll leave..." He said. You smiled, you actually smiled. You shook your head. "Ok, no I won't I promise." You said quietly, blushing lightly again. He looked at you then took his hands off your wrists. You hugged him tightly as soon as he let go. "Thank you." He went back to kissing you, softly at first. Soon, it got rough. You broke apart for air. "Ok, Sasori-kun, we shouldn't do this here..." "Oh well." He said. He nipped at your neck. You shuddered from the touch, and the fact he was cold. "I-I need to go..." you said and pulled away. He tried to catch you, but you were pretty fast. A second later you were in your room. 'What is this feeling?' Deimos grinned at you. "Wheres ya been?" She asked cheerfully =D. "oh,nowhere =S." You tugged your coat up some to hide the fresh marks on your neck. "Alright, I'm taking a shower." You quickly get in the bathroom. You close the door and lean against it. You slide down to the floor. 'what is this?' You striped and got in the shower. AKATSUKI COSPLAY - ANIME PUNCH 2007: