Pink Fox [Sakura's Brother: A Naruto Fan Fiction]

Chapter 21: Welcome

When Javen departed with the Leaf, he knew where to meet Sasuke and the others. He wasn't surprised to enter the hideout and see Sasuke, his friends, and Kisame and Tobi.

"Welcome to the party," Kisame looked at him with a toothy grin.

Sasuke faltered a bit when he saw Javen, and Javen shot him a look that read, 'Do not fuck this up.' Sasuke immediately regained control, and Javen nodded to Kisame as if nothing had happened.

"Are we recruiting?" Javen looked at Kisame with questioning eyes before taking off his soaking-wet robe and placing it on the back of a chair around the table where everyone stood. Sasuke sat at one end of the table, and Javen sat in the other unoccupied chair.

Joining Sasuke at the table was a move of dominance. It conveyed that Sasuke was still new and should not expect to be treated as anything else. It was precisely what the Akatsuki would expect from him.

Kisame nodded, "We are indeed. That's what we were discussing."

Javen smiled and looked at Sasuke with expectation, "So, what's the decision?"

"We, Taka," Sasuke mentioned his group's name. "will destroy the Hidden Leaf."

Javen's eyes widened, and he laughed, "Well, that's ambitious." He tried not to find it so funny, but he couldn't imagine that Sasuke and his group would be able to do that on their own. He supposed that's why they joined the Akatsuki in the first place.

Tobi sat on the table and nodded, "Javen's right. You say that, but how do you intend to do that?"

"We will kill the elders. The others aren't of concern, as when you aim high, the others under them will shield them." Sasuke spoke as if he knew how to do that.

Kisame must also have found it arrogant because he said, "It won't be that easy, and your so-called 'Taka' group is not strong enough for that."

"Kisame-senpai.." The white and blue-haired boy began to speak, and Javen cut him off.

"Quiet." His eyes shot a look at Sasuke, "You are only being recruited because you just killed Itachi." His eyes returned to the boy, and he cut off, "You are not the one being recruited; you are only here because you are a part of Sasuke's group."

Tobi nodded, "You haven't trained them well, Sasuke."

"Shut up! I've only been hanging out with Sasuke for Kisame's sword." The boy shot back.

That's when everyone looked at Sasuke to call the shots.

He adjusted and nodded, "All right, go for it if you want to. You probably aren't strong enough, though."

Tobi seemed peeved, "The Akatsuki is low on manpower; we want to avoid unnecessary skirmishes."

Javen bit his lip as he watched Tobi's demeanor. It was different than usual; everyone knew something he didn't. He was going to need to pull Tobi aside later.

"We would like Taka to work with us as part of the Akatsuki," Tobi spoke.

"What's in it for us?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, challenging Tobi.

"We will give you a tailed beast in exchange for you working with us under supervision." Tobi looked at Javen, and the pink-haired man knew that responsibility would fall on him.

"Tailed beast?" Sasuke questioned.

"Like the beast in Naruto." Javen leaned back into his chair.

"The nine tails. Tailed beasts have a chakra that manifests as tails-" The girl by Sasuke's side started explaining before Sasuke cut her off.

"In other words, they're chakra monsters?" He asked, looking at the Akatsuki.

Javen nodded, and Tobi explained how they were weapons that could destroy nations if you could control them.

"That's generous of you." Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"If you betray the Akatsuki, you will die accordingly." Kisame quickly cut in.

Sasuke seemed unsurprised, but he would have been killed earlier if he had said anything slightly wrong, so it was an expected statement.

"Taka and the Akatsuki will split up to hunt the remaining tailed beasts, of which three are left." Tobi looked at Javen, "Javen will join Taka in a supervisory position and help."

"Is the nine-tails still uncaptured?" Sasuke asked, and Javen nodded.

"Taka will capture the eight tail, and the Akatsuki will hunt the rest, which includes Naruto."

Javen bit his lip. It wasn't beneficial for him to be separated from the Akatsuki. He was sure that the Akatsuki would already be on their way for Naruto when it took Sasuke and his team to hunt down the eight tails.

The Akatsuki had lost so many members at this point... Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakzu and now Itachi too. He was sure that Itachi was the only thing keeping the Akatsuki away from Naruto when the blonde was in the Leaf. The Akatsuki wouldn't care about Javen's asking to keep his friends safe when it was time, and Javen knew that. He was powerless to stop most of them.

Robes were brought out for Sasuke's team.

"If you say yes, you will be dispatched immediately to Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds," Tobi said as he placed the robes on the table.

Sasuke looked at Javen, almost as if to ask if there were any other options. Javen shook his head, no, and Sasuke reached for a robe to confirm his agreement.

Tobi seemed pleased enough and waved Kisame with him as he turned, and the two of them left the room, leaving Javen and team Taka.

"Welcome to the Akatsuki." Javen smiled toward Sasuke, "I knew it was only a matter of time after hearing about Orochimaru."

Sasuke seemed almost to return the smile but leaned forward instead. "Why did you join? You would be the last person I expected to join. You were so loyal to the Leaf."

"After you left, I was captured and tortured for months. This is my life now, and I don't have much choice." Javen gave him a sad smile as he told him a partial truth.

"You will back us in destroying the Leaf, right?" Sasuke looked him in the eyes, waiting for the lie to come from Javen's mouth.

"Of course." The lie was as easy to say as breathing came to him. 

//A/N: A bit of a shorter chapter this time. But I figured one chapter wasn't worth how long the wait for a chapter must have been while I was on hiatus//