𝑅𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈【Ｔｅｎｚｏ ｘ Ｆ！Ｒｅａｄｅｒ】

第10章

Darkness shrouded your vision, as you let sleep take over.

---

"...And then I was like, 'well if you didn't swallow that coin, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation!' And they said, 'well it's not like I MEANT to!'" A distant voice said, laughing with another.
Oh, it was a dream.

You were listening to a conversation across the room from you while sitting down on a couch, sipping on some warm tea. As you continued listening to other people's conversations, a person had approached you. They stood in your peripheral vision, but they said nothing. They just stood there. You were about to say something to them, but when you looked to see who it was, it was the man from before. What was his name? Tenzo?
He wore a black shirt that had long sleeves with a matching pair of black pants and socks. Tenzo's mouth was agape, as if he was going to say something, but he hadn't said a word. 

You stared into his dark eyes, waiting for him to say something, anything.
He took a seat next to you, only letting out a sigh. You scooted closer to him. "Hey, is something wrong?" You asked with a concerned tone. 

Tenzo turned his head to look at you. He could only look you in the eyes for a few seconds, as he soon averted his eyes. "It's nothing important," he said quietly. 
Did you do something wrong? Tenzo was obviously upset about something. A small silence filled your ears.

"Hey, I..." You paused, wondering if you should say anything or not. "If you ever need to talk to somebody, I'm always willing to listen to you, Tenzo. I'll be here for you." You said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Th...thanks, (Y/n). I really appreciate it." Tenzo sighed. "It's just-... for some reason, I'm worried." He gazed into your eyes. "(Y/n), can you promise me that you'll take care of yourself, no matter what?"

You weren't exactly expecting him to say that. You sat for a moment, slightly stunned. 

Then you smiled.
"Of course. I promise." 

---

You slowly opened your eyes after the comforting dream you had. The nice, warm feeling quickly went away when you realized you were sitting in a wooden chair, tied up in thick rope. The rope was wrapped around your torso, your arms along with it. You began kneading chakra, and felt the familiar chakra signature from before was close by, in the same room. You quickly shut your eyes, not wanting to deal with any of this right now. A few minutes passed by, and the other person in the room hadn't said a word. Were they even there anymore?
As if on cue, their deep, masculine voice spoke:

"I hope you know I'm aware that you're awake." They didn't sound like they meant any harm. Nevertheless, it was still somewhat intimidating. You let out a loud, exaggerated sigh, attempting to cover up the fact you were nervous. "So you don't want to join the Akatsuki, hm?" The person inquired. "Why is it that you're against it?"

"I have my own life to live, and I don't want to live under an organization who'll just manipulate me and use me for whatever they want." You opened your eyes, meeting the familiar pair of purple rinnegan across from you. "That's what you want me for, just to use me, right?"
As your eyes adjusted, you squinted to observe the features of the person in front of you. He had vibrant orange hair and had piercings on his ears, nose, and lower lip.
The man shook his head.

"Not exactly." He slowly took one step after another, circling around you like a shark. "We know you're now considered a rogue ninja. You have nowhere to go. If you join us, you'll have somewhere safe to go, and we'll have you to help us reach our goal. It's a win-win."

A win-win? You thought to yourself. "What's your goal?" You inquired.

"World peace." The man replied, stopping behind you. You nodded, indirectly saying you heard him. "So... are you willing to join the Akatsuki, (Y/n)?" He suddenly softly spoke. You scoffed; he had asked you as if you had a choice.

"Fine," you yielded. As the man walked back in front of you, you noticed he had a faint smile of triumph resting on his face.

"Good. First things first, I'll have a cloak made for you in a week or less. Until then, you'll be given flexible clothing that won't limit your movements," he paused, "and you may call me Pein." You nodded once more. "I will be assigning one of the other members to accompany you each week, until I say otherwise. You'll be given a tour around the base, sooner or later. But for now, I'll send Zetsu with you."
Suddenly, the green shell from before had emerged from the ground. Ah, so that was Zetsu. You thought to yourself.

"I believe we've met before, haven't we?" Zetsu spoke. You didn't reply. "Well, not properly... I'm Zetsu."

"I'm... (Y/n)." You said, narrowing your eyes, giving Zetsu a weird look.

"Quit looking at us like that, you brat." You raised your eyebrows. Was that the same person? Did Zetsu just darken his voice somehow or what? "I apologize in advance for anything snappy my other half might say." Ohh. So Zetsu's basically a two in one. "Anyway, we don't have all day. Let's go, (Y/n)."