The Akatsuki. (2)

Tendo: "Glad to be here."

Pain: "I am the leader of this organization, you can call me...Pain."

Tendo nodded in acknowledgment and waited for Pain to continue talking.

Pain: "All the people you see here are your comrades. This is Konan, Kisame, Itachi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Sasori and you already know Zetsu. The missing member, I'm sure you already know him. It's Orochimaru. We could never replace him as he took his ring with him as he defected."

Tendo: "Good to meet all of you. Now, Pain what if I told you I could retrieve that ring easily?"

Pain: "Then you will be the replacement for Orochimaru. Simple as that."

Tendo: "Alright, I'll retrieve it when I leave this place."

Pain nodded and turned to Zetsu, signaling him to bring the Akatsuki outfit for Tendo, giving it to Konan when it arrived. In about 10 minutes, Konan made sure Tendo was looking just like the rest of the Akatsuki members. He had on the signature high-collared black robes with red clouds, a conical straw hat with small ornamental bells, some tassets hanging down on his face, and even the nail polish, although he was confused about what that was even used for.

Pain: "Good. Take your place on the finger with the missing ring. That will be your position from now on. Now, let's get down to business."

Pain started explaining what the goal of the Akatsuki was and how they were going to achieve it. In a few minutes, Tendo was already caught up with everything going on the Akatsuki at that time so he was just waiting patiently for Pain to finish talking. At the end of the meeting, Tendo was paired with Zetsu as his partner on missions and it was just as he expected. Only a few missions were handed out and none of them concerned Tendo so he was told that he could leave until there was something for him.

Following the same hand sign that Zetsu did, Tendo just merged with the void and left the cave, standing atop the mountain that the cave was in. As the wind blew past him, causing his robes to flutter in the wind, Tendo dropped a few white Zetsu spores in the ground. When the Zetsu's rose up, Tendo said in his usual nonchalant tone:

"Zetsu, find the ring in Orochimaru's destroyed hideout. The ring is durable enough to not be completely broken by some rubble and it can be repaired by infusing some natural energy into it. Don't come back until you do, understood?"

"As you wish, master."

They immediately left to go towards Orochimaru's hideout in Otogakure while Tendo still stood there, wondering what his next move would be.

Tendo: 'Hm, there are so many things to do. Finding the zero tails, Satori, and even the Ryumyaku. Then I have some training to do also as my Mangekyo Sharingan wouldn't unlock itself. Sigh, then there are the missions I would receive from the Akatsuki. Well, the Akatsuki wouldn't last for long so I wouldn't be wearing this outfit for long. I could hunt the tailed beasts myself but it feels so much better with this outfit on. Ha, how ridiculous. Well, since most of those events haven't yet reached the time for me to intervene, I'll just do head to the Land of the Sky to find the Zero-Tails. Maybe I'll even use the Ancor Vantian as my first formal hidden village of sorts. I'll be looking forward to this trip.'

Coming to that conclusion, Tendo flickered away from the spot, heading to the Land Of Fire in hopes of tracing any clues back to the currently hidden Land Of The Sky.

[About an hour later]

Tendo was roaming around a small village in the Land Of Fire that was known for having an esteemed medical ninja named Shinno. In the movie he remembered watching, Shinno was a spy from the Land of the Sky that was aiming to attack Konoha in about a year as revenge for Konoha destroying the Sky country in the Second Shinobi World War. The village was lively and although it was small, most of the villagers seemed happy with their lifestyle. It was mostly filled with small to medium-sized huts and there were a few businesses scattered around, such as an inn, bar, etc. As Tendo walked through the village, it was like he was invisible as the villagers didn't even take note of his existence. Of course, this was because he was naturally a Void Serpent so normal people not being aware of him was just a side effect of his race. All they would hear as he passed is the sound of the bells shaking from his straw hat.

As Tendo got closer to the middle of the village, he noticed a short line of villagers standing at a certain large hut with a sign saying 'Doctor' on it. Knowing that this had to be Shinno, Tendo started walking through the crowd and only since he jammed shoulders with a few people, did they finally notice him there. Most of them were on edge as it was clear from Tendo's outfit that he was not normal at all. A few courageous young men tried blocking his path but they soon found themselves seemingly slowly burning alive, although the other villagers around them saw nothing but them screaming hysterically about being burned when there was no fire there.

Shinno was currently in the middle of volatile healing operation on a patient when he suddenly heard the door to his hut being pushed open. A young red-haired girl named Amaru, his trusted assistant, saw Tendo walking in and started shouting at him immediately to get out. Shinno thought the intruder would leave but when he noticed Tendo standing right beside him with his hand on his shoulder, he was about to get furious until he noticed the robes that Tendo was wearing.

Shinno: 'The damn Akatsuki! What the hell are they doing here?! Did they find out about the Zero-Tails?! Damn it all! Tsk! I'll have to act normal just-'

Tendo: "Don't bother. Your emotions are as clear as day to me."

Shinno started to get extremely nervous as between his dying patient and an Akatsuki member standing right next to him, he didn't know which problem to tackle first. Amaru noticed her sensei getting nervous after hearing what Tendo said so she walked towards him, pulling on his sleeves.

Amaru: "Sensei? What's going on? Why aren't you telling that weird looking man to leave?"

Shinno: "Amaru! Be quiet! Let your sensei handle this. Just, stay back and don't say anything."

Reluctantly, the young girl stepped back, wondering why her sensei was acting so nervous. Turning his head to Tendo, Shinno said with a slight smile:

"Please, I'll be available in a bit after I heal this patient. Can you give me some time?"

Tendo: "What do you mean? The patient is already healed."

Immensely surprised, Shinno quickly looked back towards the patient only to see all of his injuries healed and his eyes wide open. The patient then got up from his laying position and sat on the bed, inspecting his new healthy body. Shinno frantically looked back at Tendo, asking if he had healed him. He wanted to know if what he was seeing was an illusion. Even Amaru was standing in the corner shocked at the current developments.

Tendo: "Well of course I would help a dying man in need. Rest assured, there are no illusions involved."{A/N: I hope none of you actually believed this lol.}

Shinno checked the patient once again and when he made sure the patient was indeed healthy, he motioned to Tendo so that they could talk outside. Telling Amaru to keep watch while he left, Shinno took Tendo outside of the village and stopped there, turning around to face Tendo with a serious expression. His earlier kind demeanor had faded immediately.

Shinno: "So, tell me, what does the Akatsuki want with a small village doctor such as myself?"

Tendo: "Tell me about the Land Of The Sky and the Zero Tails. Depending on your response, this will either be your last day in this world or the beginning of a wonderful...let's call it a partnership."