Inevitable

Tsunade sat in her office, bored, wishing that Shizune would stop removing her secret stashes of sake, or that she had something to bet on. She had piles of paperwork but decided that procrastination was better as she folded some blank papers into different animals.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune bust in the office, making the blonde woman stop her origami and look relieved that something was finally happening.

"Please, tell me it's interesting," she begged.

"Amejisuto Ishi is missing and so is Itachi Uchiha!" the assistant exclaimed.

Tsunade slammed her hands on her desk and stood up. "What?!"

"I suspect the Akatsuki had something to do with this."

"Shizune, alert the tracking ANBU. We were only slightly prepared for this! I didn't expect it would happen so soon," the Hokage ordered. "Get some Hyugas too. We don't know where the Akatsuki hideout is and they can see through-"

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune interrupted. "I think that we should stay calm for now and let the villagers think they're on a mission. Itachi and Amejisuto are smart enough to plan a way to get out."

The older woman sat down and rubbed her temples, knowing that her assistant was better at staying level-headed in heated issues. "I suppose you're right. This is already giving me a headache."

"At least they didn't force him to kill his whole clan or something," the assistant said, trying to make the situation seem a bit lighter.

"Maybe they can even become inside spies. I could send Jiraiya to gather info."

Shizune nodded and smiled. Her pig hid behind her legs and sulked. "Ooink."

Tsunade turned and looked out the window with her hands behind her back. 'Just... Please stay alive you two...’

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Violet eyes flew open, followed by a gasp. The kidnapped female sat up and looked around. The room was different than where she fell asleep. The walls were red with a strange black pattern on them, and in the room was a small bathroom, a small table that had a bowl of steaming rice on it, and the bed she was sitting on. "Where am I?"

"In an Akatsuki hideout," a creepy voice answered. Amejisuto looked behind her and screamed. There was a creepy man with a yellow eye and skin that seemed painted black. The weirder thing was that he only had features on the left side of his face. The rest was just a swirl of weird shaped goo, and he had some sort of plant surrounding his sides. "I would eat you, but I've been ordered not to. I'm Black Zetsu. My white half is probably talking to Itachi Uchiha right now."

"The Akatsuki?! But don't you capture jinchuriki? Why did you kidnap me?"

"To get your mentor to join, of course," the black half smirked. "Now, Konan brought you some rice. I recommend you eat it unless you want to starve," he started retreating. "Oh, by the way, don't bother trying to use any jutsu. We had most of your chakra sucked up, leaving only enough for you to stay alive, and then we put a seal on you to prevent it from replenishing. Only the leader can undo it."

She was left alone, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was bait for Itachi. "I may be a close friend and his apprentice, but that couldn't be enough to get him to leave the village for me, could it?"

She decided to eat the rice after reasoning with herself that they wouldn't poison it since nobody would try to save a dead hostage. Looking at the blankets pooled around her feet, she decided it was probably a good idea for her to pass the time with sleep. "Itachi, please hurry up," she whispered before closing her eyes.

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"How much longer is it to get there?" Itachi inquired. He was running quickly and white Zetsu popped out from every twelfth tree to lead him to the hideout. They were already in Otogakure, the hidden sound village.

"It's only a few more minutes. I must say, I'm impressed with the speed of an Uchiha when a loved one is at stake. This should've been a full two day's journey with a normal ninja squad pace instead of a mere thirteen hours," Zetsu replied.

"Yes, well I'll push myself to the limit when it comes to Amejisuto."

"Even abandoning your village for her. How sweet."

The last few minutes were silent as they arrived in the middle of a desert. The only things that could be seen for miles was the pale blue sky, dotted with occasional clouds, and the vast sand littered with rocks and boulders. Zetsu put his hand on a rock and twisted it. The big rock behind it vibrated a bit before a door appeared and opened, revealing a secret passage. The white creature led the sharingan user down the halls to the meeting room where Madara, Konan and Pain stood, waiting for the arrival of the Uchiha prodigy.

"Itachi Uchiha, we welcome you to the Akatsuki," Pain said once the raven stepped into the room. Black and White Zetsu reconnected, making one plant creature again.

"I only came for my apprentice. Where is she," the deadly male asked with a threatening glare that activated the sharingan.

“First, I need to drain your chakra,” the orange-haired man spoke, holding out his arm. Itachi inwardly growled, but the brunette was more important to him at the moment, so he gave in and let the man take almost all of his chakra.

"Right this way," Konan gestured down the hall, leading Itachi to the room that Amejisuto was being held in. He calmed down significantly when he saw she was asleep and unharmed, walking across the room and sitting on the bed. She woke up and looked at him.

"Itachi?" she questioned drowsily, adjusting her eyes to the light.

"Yes, it’s me," he wrapped the Ishi in a tight hug when she sat up. Konan couldn't help but smile silently as the brunette nuzzled into him. "I was so worried. Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

"Except for the fact that the Akatsuki kidnapped me, yah I'm alright," the Ishi answered, sighing.

"Itachi, Amejisuto, will you come with me? You need to get fitted for your cloaks," Konan hated to interrupt but they were on a schedule.

"Wait! I thought that you only wanted me? There is no way that I'll let you get her involved," Itachi stood up and stood in front of Amejisuto, prepared to fight for her safety.

"Calm down, Itachi. She would be partnered with you, and if you feel that worried about her safety, especially on missions, she can stay here, though it might be even less safe since she would be around men who have anger issues, bomb enthusiasts, cannibals, sadists, and a man who likes to sacrifice people," the blue haired woman explained “Oh, and one that would turn any alone-time with an Ishi or an Uchiha into a dissection session, but you already know about him.”

Through her explanation, the Ishi and Uchiha were more and more uncertain about their life spans.

Itachi was silent for a moment before looking at his student, who nodded. "Fine, we'll be on a team," he gave in. Konan smiled and lead them to a different room where a man with weird wires coming out his arms was waiting. He quickly took their measurements and adjusted two new cloaks to fit them. They left and went down the hall again, now wearing the uniform of the Akatsuki, to a room with couches and a big table. Pain and Madara were already there.

"It is time for introductions. I am Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki," the former introduced.

"I'm Tobi! I'm a good boy," Madara answered in his childish goofy voice.

Pain briefly closed his eyes and performed a hand sign, and soon all of the Akatsuki members ran to the room. "Finally got the Uchiha," Deidara smirked, glad that he wasn’t called on to help capture them. "I'm Deidara. Don't touch my clay or else you will die by explosion, yeah."

"Hey, you were one of the ones who killed Gaara!" Amejisuto yelled, forgetting that she was in a dangerous place.

"Kakashi said he killed you," Itachi looked at the blonde oddly. "How are you here?"

"He only got my arm, yeah."

"I'm Kakuzu," the creepy one with wire control cut their conversation short. "I'm the treasurer, so don't break anything or it will cost you your lives."

"You know me. It's great to see you two again," Orochimaru seemed to hiss cockily.

"I can’t believe you came here after betraying our village!" Itachi said angrily, angry that the snake, evil as he was, would join up with other criminals and possibly share Intel on Konoha.

"Shut up, it's my turn,” the albino caught everyone’s attention. “I'm Hidan. I'm immortal, so don't touch my sacrifices. I can kill you but you can't kill me."

"You already know me," Zetsu came out of the ground.

"Kisame," the blue shark-man grinned before pointing to his sword. "This is Samehada. He eats chakra."

"And I'm Konan, second in command," the woman smiled, trying to get the two to not be as tense. It was bad for missions, after all.

"I'm Amejisuto, but Ameji is fine," the brunette tried to be polite even after her outburst at Deidara.

"You all probably already know, but I'm Itachi Uchiha, and if any of you threaten or touch us, especially Amejisuto, you will die," he turned on his sharingan to prove that he meant business.

"Relax, even Hidan wouldn't touch someone else's fiancée," Konan assured, as everyone glared at Hidan to let him know that they would each have pieces of him if he did anything to the seventeen year old. They may have turned into criminals, but they weren’t that terrible. Honour among thieves, as they say.

"His fiancée?!" Amejisuto exclaimed, looking over at Itachi with a death glare from important information being withheld from her.

"Uh... I didn't exactly tell her that part yet," the raven braced himself as she stalked toward him, fuming.

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!?" Without any chakra, she was still able to send Itachi flying to the other side of the room, making everyone aware of how powerful she actually was, and instantly knowing not to underestimate her. She had fire in her eyes as she walked up to him. "Prepared to die, fiancée?"