Wrath of a Woman Scorned: Akatsuki's Crimson Princess

By: EDelta88

Rated M for language, violence, adult themes, and other such things not meant for immature readers

Prologue

Konoha: 5 years post Kyuubi

Uchiha Madara was not an evil man. Though many would view his actions and goals as such, he was simply a man from a different time with a different point of view. He grew up during the Clan Wars, a time when the concepts of 'right' or 'wrong' were very different and life focused more on what you did to survive and what you did to make sure that those you cared for survived.

He was also a bitter man, a man who had lost everything for his clan only for his clan to betray that sacrifice and the sacrifices of so many others. In his time such acts demanded retribution. That was why he had left Konoha. That was why he had challenged Hashirama. That was why he had set the Kyuubi no Yoko on Konoha. That was why he had formed Akatsuki. And that was why he was back in Konoha trying to find out exactly what happened to the Kyuubi, a task that was proving very irksome.

He knew that Namikaze must have sealed it, and considering what evidence he had managed to find on the technique the young Hokage had used to thwart his plans five years ago, and considering that it had been Kyuubi, he would have been forced to use an infant as the vessel. Unfortunately for Madara, the information on which child was a closely guarded secret, all records that could have led him to the child were sealed or hidden and the Senjus' protégé had forbidden anyone from speaking of it.

'Damn you Namikaze,' Madara thought irritably.

It would surprise a great many to know that Madara didn't bear any ill will toward the deceased Hokage past mild irritation. In fact, Madara would freely admit that he held great respect for Namikaze Minato, not only had the young man willingly fought a losing battle for the sake of others, an admirable if foolish trait, but he had actually managed to defeat Madara, granted it was a Pyrrhic victory but still it was a feat only matched by Senju Hashirama and Namikaze had managed it while at a significant disadvantage. So, while it irked Madara that a man nearly a century his junior could cause him this much trouble, he bore no real animosity towards the deceased Hokage.

So, here he was, wandering Konoha in search of anything that might point to which child held his old pet so lost in thought he that he never noticed the little figure coming up behind him.

"Hey mister, you lost?"

Whirling around Madara found a sight that would be burned into his memories for the rest of eternity. Standing there smiling up at him was a small girl of roughly five years with unruly sunny blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and whisker-like marks adorning her cheeks, marks that he remembered from five years ago when he had used Minato's child to separate him from Kushina, '…Namikaze you were a greater and more foolish man than I could have ever imagined.'

Chaper 1: The Coming of the Red Dawn

Konoha: 14 years post Kyuubi

It was an average day in Konoha…

"Sai-baka! Leave Sasuke-kun alone!"

"It's not my fault the dickless wonder got his ass kicked six ways to Sunday by a weirdo in a leotard."

… Yep very average, it also happened to be the first day of the Chunnin Selection Exam.

So it was that gennin Team 7 consisting of Sai, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke made its way through the halls of the academy toward the examination room.

"Oh good, all of you came!"

Team 7 turned to find their sensei standing in front of them giving his trademarked eye smile, "What do you mean it's good that we all came?" asked Sakura.

Before Kakashi could answer Sai said, "He means that if one of us failed to show up the rest of us would not have been allowed to participate."

Hearing this Sakura adopted a look speaking of shock while Sasuke seemed to become annoyed that he could have lost this opportunity to test himself had either of his teammates chickened out and most likely would have voiced this opinion had Kakashi not shooed them into the examination room.

The sight that greeted them to most would seem… daunting (and to Sakura it was) but Sasuke just grew more excited, so many tough looking opponents, 'This was gonna be fun…'

At that moment he was beset by a flying mass of blond and purple, "Hey cutie where ya been?"

'…There's always a "but" isn't there,' the young Uchiha inwardly groused.

"Damnit Ino! Unhand him this instant!" Sakura yelled.

"Oh piss off Billboard Brow!" Ino retorted while sticking her tongue out at her rival.

"Troublesome… so you guys are taking this test too," grumbled Shikamaru as he and Chouji moseyed over to join them.

"HA! Found you!" called a rough looking boy with a dog on his head.

"Kiba, shut up," his indigo haired teammate ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" the boy, Kiba, yelped.

"Kible's team too?" wondered Sai, "So all the rookie teams got nominated…that has to be a record."

"You know you guys really should keep it down," came a voice from behind them, turning they found a silver haired teen watching them. "You're the rookies right? Screaming like little girls, sheesh."

"Care to repeat that?" Hinata asked in a tone that could freeze saltwater.

Realizing his mistake the boy raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean anything by it," this seemed to satisfy her so he continued, "guess I can't blame you guys, I wasn't much better my first time through, I'm Kabuto by the way."

"I take it this isn't your first time taking this exam?" Sasuke asked.

"Very astute Uchiha-san, this is my seventh."

"Wow, then you must know a lot about this exam," Sakura spoke.

"Sure do, collected enough information for a whole deck of Nin Info Cards," he said proudly while holding up said deck. Then, seeming to feel the need to show off a little, the older boy pulled out one of the cards while saying, "Here let me show you," before channeling some chakra to reveal the info on the card, showing a graph, "This is my card for the number of participants and which village they hail from, this year we have 29 teams from Konoha, 10 from Suna, 7 from Ame, 2 from Kusa, 1 from Oto, and 1 from Akatsuki."

"Do you have anything on individuals?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure do, though it's not perfect, got anyone in mind?"

"Sabaku no Gaara of Suna and Rock Lee of Konoha."

"You know their names? That'll make it easy," he muttered while grabbing two cards out of the deck. "Lets see here, Rock Lee is a year older than you, missions completed 20 D-rank, 11 C-rank, he's a Taijutsu specialist, favors a variation of Goken Ryu, teammates Hyuuga Neji and Tenten... Sabaku no Gaara, not much on him, missions completed, 8 C-rank, 1 B-rank, wow that's impressive, that's about it but he's returned from every mission without a scratch on him," he said returning the card to the deck, "anyone else?"

Thinking for a moment Sasuke answered, "What do you have on the team from Akatsuki, I've never heard of that village."

"That's not really surprising considering Akatsuki isn't a village," Kabuto answered while pulling a new card. "The Akatsuki is an independent organization, though it's rumored to have ties to Ame. This'll be their first time participating in the Chunnin Exam, first public appearance actually. As far as individual members, rumor has it that most of their members are S-rank missing nins but they do accept persons of lesser rank. My guess is that the team they sent is made up of kids that are individually apprenticed to some of their members. As far as who they sent…" for a moment he scanned the room before pointing to a group of three wearing black cloaks decorated with red clouds and strange hats that concealed their faces. "…Hm, can't really tell much past gender with those hats and cloaks. Though... from the sword she's carrying and her height I'd venture a guess that the one in the middle is Akatsuki's youngest known member," he mused before shuffling through his deck and pulling out a new card, "Akatsuki no Benihime, true name unknown, she is believed to be roughly 14 years of age just a little older than you guys. She carries a strange sword situated for an over-the-shoulder draw that is best described as a customized straight katana or chokuto, the handle is angled near the pommel presumably for a better grip, the blade is said to be completely black and non reflective. She first appeared about a year ago when she assassinated a yakuza boss and the majority of his subordinates, thus earning her the nickname Benihime-"

"Actually…" said a voice right behind them, whirling around everyone came face to face with the girl they had just been discussing, "…that was just when people outside of Akatsuki started using it. One of the witnesses heard my partner call me Benihime as we were leaving. It's been my nickname since I joined."

'She moved half way across the room and got behind us of without anyone noticing her…' Sasuke thought while trying to get a glimpse of the girls face behind the strips of cloth that hid it.

"And you won't need to worry about my teammates they aren't going to be doing much of anything," that got everyone's attention.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked.

Somehow they could just tell the girl was smirking at them, "It means that, if it were allowed, I would be taking this test solo but since a full squad is required they're here as place holders," she said waving lazily at her two companions who were still where she had left them.

"So, what? They're just going to stand there while you do all the work?" Kiba laughed, obviously meaning it as a joke.

"That is the plan," she said causing Kiba to blink owlishly.

"Huh?"

The girl turned to Hinata, "Not the sharpest kunai in the pouch is he."

"HEY!" he cried indignantly.

"No, no he's not," Hinata agreed causing Kiba to instantly deflate.

Chuckling the girl turned to leave when Sasuke called out to her, "What's your name?"

"It's common courtesy to give your own name first when asking such a question," the girl replied in a teasing voice.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said immediately.

"Uchiha…" she repeated thoughtfully, "You may call me Aki," and slowly made her way back to her teammates.

Watching her go Sasuke mused, 'Aki huh? This is going to be even more interesting than I thought!'

If only he knew how right he was.

Edited: 4/12/2011

A/N

Lol isn't this ironic, a Fanfiction of a Fanfiction XD

Ok to clarify a few things I'm saying that the graduation age is 13 and Aki is slightly older than the rookies, add a few months from graduation to present and she's about 14.

Roughly translated Aki means Evil/Malevolent Spirit.

Anyone confused about the sword I described, it's Benihime from Bleach (Urahara's sword).

Lastly I'm warning you guys now, like the original this is a pet project. Updates will most likely be slow in coming.