Akatsuki/split

is a fictional organization of criminal ninja in the anime and manga series Naruto written by Masashi Kishimoto. All of the members are criminals as they have betrayed their village of origin and banded together for the ultimate purpose of world domination. Akatsuki is initially introduced midway into the first part of the series, though does not begin acting as a major antagonist until the start of the second part.

Overview
Akatsuki, at any given point in time, is composed of no more than ten primary members. There is no known criterion required for joining the organization, though all known members have severed all ties with the village they grew up in and are S-class criminals, the most wanted and dangerous individuals in the series.

Two members, Itachi Uchiha and Sasori are known to have undertaken a challenging task around the time of their joining the organization: Itachi killed almost all the members of his family in a single night, though it is unclear what his true reasons for doing this were. Sasori, during the course of the battle in which he eventually meets his demise, comments that "[he] hadn't had this much difficulty since joining Akatsuki". In Deidara's case, however, he was forcibly recruited by other Akatsuki members as a result of his effective work as a terrorist.

Members of Akatsuki work in teams of two. Teams are built to complement each other's abilities and talents to create a formidable duo. For example, Kakuzu and Hidan use Hidan's immortality to their advantage by using large-scale attacks on those Hidan has pinned down; being immortal, Hidan survives what is normally fatal to his opponent. Zetsu is an exception to this, as he operates by himself at all times. Members whose partners have died also operate by themselves until a replacement can be found. At the very least, members maintain a functioning working relationship with their partner, with some form of loyalty to one another being present in most cases. In other instances a member will only work with their teammate so long as it furthers Akatsuki's goals, with all other matters being a source of dispute between the two. In general, Akatsuki members are unconcerned with the fate of their other comrades, their only point of interest concerning someone's death being who was strong enough to kill them.

Akatsuki is a widespread organization, with its members constantly traveling between countries and its agents operating out of various villages throughout the world. These agents work for specific members for varying purposes; Sasori has a number of agents under a form of mind control that he uses as spies, while Kakuzu has a group of people that take care of his finances. Because the various members are often so far apart, making a meeting in person impractical, they can communicate through a form of telepathy. If there is a need for the group to have more of an interaction with each other, members can use a form of astral projection to meet at one of Akatsuki's many secret lairs. When their entire group meets like this at the end of the first part of the series, one member notes that it had been seven years since they had all been together in such a fashion. Their meetings are much more frequent in the second part of the series due to their increased activity.

Wardrobe
Akatsuki members dress in similar clothing: a long, dark cloak bearing red clouds and a red interior with a chin-high collar. All members also wear nail polish of varying colors on their fingernails and toenails. When starting a mission they wear large conical straw hats with small spike-like bells hanging from them to block their faces, but the hats are discarded once they have been discovered. In addition to this more standard wardrobe, members continue to wear forehead protectors from their former home villages, but scratch a line across the their village's symbol. This is done to indicate that their ties to the village have been severed and they no longer give allegiance to their former homes. Not all members have their headband visible, and Hidan's headband does not correspond to any known village.

Each Akatsuki member wears a single, unique ring, and no two members wear a ring on the same finger. In total, there are ten rings, and each seems to have some special significance; Tobi believes that he can become a member after finding Sasori's ring, and although Zetsu claims it's not as easy as that, Tobi does indeed become a member. Deidara reinforces the significance of the rings after losing both his arms by expressing more concern for finding the arm with his ring, rather than finding the arm itself. Likewise, when Orochimaru leaves the organization he takes his ring with him, and in the ten years since then he has yet to be replaced. Each ring bears a unique symbol, the first kanji of its name.

The various rings are:
 * Right thumb: 零 rei, "zero"; worn by Pein.
 * Right index finger: 青龍 Seiryū, the Azure Dragon; worn by Deidara.
 * Right middle finger: 白虎 Byakko, the White Tiger; worn by Konan.
 * Right ring finger: 朱雀 Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird; worn by Itachi Uchiha.
 * Right little finger: 玄武 Genbu, the Black Tortoise; worn by Zetsu.
 * Left little finger: 空陳 Kūchin, the Void; formerly worn by Orochimaru.
 * Left ring finger: 南斗 Nanju, Sagittarius (lit. Southern Star); worn by Kisame.
 * Left middle finger: 北斗 Hokuto, the Big Dipper (lit. Northern Star); worn by Kakuzu.
 * Left index finger: 三台 santai, "three levels"; worn by Hidan.
 * Left thumb: 玉女 gyokunyo, the Virgin; currently worn by Tobi, formerly worn by Sasori.

Goal
Akatsuki initially operate in the shadows, carrying out assassinations and espionage that drew little attention. Some members use their time with Akatsuki to further their own goals; Kakuzu, for example, joined because it makes it easier for him to collect bounties. . Soon after the start of the series, however, Akatsuki becomes increasingly more active as its members start to carry out the tasks needed to achieve their ultimate goal: domination over the Naruto world. The leader, Pein, has created a three-step process to work their way towards this goal. First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization. Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal only to Akatsuki. To build their reputation, they plan to accept any mission below the usual cost and operate off of the excess funds earned in the first part of their plan. Because there haven't been any wars in some time, the established shinobi villages can't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages. By using the tailed beasts, Akatsuki can start wars and then immediately quell them, solidifying their reputation and convincing every country to depend on them. Without any business, the other shinobi villages would collapse due to a lack of funds. Finally, after Akatsuki is the only major shinobi force in existence, they could easily conquer the other countries. Despite the severity of this plan, members do not automatically learn of it upon joining; Hidan did not find out about it until he had a been a member for quite some time.

The tailed beasts, nine gigantic demons of immense power, are the focus of much of Akatsuki's effort and screen time within the series. Each Akatsuki member is assigned to capture alive one of the nine beasts or, in most cases, the person that beast has been sealed into. Akatsuki has so far obtained seven of the nine: the One-Tailed Shukaku, the Two-Tailed Demon Cat, the three-tailed beast, the four-tailed beast, and three others.

Once one of the demons has been captured it is taken to the nearest Akatsuki lair where the remaining members then assemble through astral projection. Pein summons a giant statue of a humanoid monster while the beast or its host is placed before it. The members then take their place on the finger of the statue that corresponds to their respective ring, and the group prepares to seal the beast into the statue. For the sealing, nine dragon-like effigies pour from the statue's mouth to surround the captured host and forcefully remove the tailed beast from them and seal it into the statue. In the case of an unsealed tailed beast, the same thing happens to the beast itself. The sealing process takes three days to complete. Kisame Hoshigaki notes that the demons must be sealed in a specific order, as he states that sealing the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox before the other eight beasts would destroy the statue. Tobi, the character shown giving Pein orders, hints that the tailed beasts have a purpose beyond global conquest, implying that acquiring all nine would allow his Sharingan to return to full power.

Current members

 * Kisame Hoshigaki
 * Konan
 * Pein
 * Tobi
 * Zetsu

Itachi Uchiha
Main article: Itachi Uchiha

Deidara

 * Ring: 青 ("blue", "green")
 * Ring position: Right index finger
 * Partner: Formerly Tobi, Sasori before that
 * Seiyu: Katsuhiko Kawamoto

Deidara (デイダラ) is a missing-nin from Iwagakure. Before joining Akatsuki, Deidara acted as a terrorist bomber for hire, where his work attracted the attention of Pein. Pein sent other Akatsuki members to recruit Deidara, though he refused. After being defeated by Itachi Uchiha, however, Deidara was forced to join the organization. Deidara maintains a deep loathing for Itachi from that point further and becomes determined to defeat him, even training one of his eyes to overcome Itachi's signature ability: genjutsu. Deidara was partnered with Sasori upon joining the organization, whose artistic ability and insight Deidara admired. After Sasori's death Deidara is paired with Tobi whom he treats as a disciple. Despite Tobi's habit of accidentally angering Deidara, Deidara takes great care to keep Tobi out of harm's way and even dedicates his final moments to apologizing to him.

In battle, Deidara uses special mouths in the palm of each hand to create Exploding Clay (起爆粘土). As the name suggests he can make the clay explode by first infusing it with his chakra and then using the command "detonate" (喝); the blast strength of his creations is determined by how much chakra he adds to them. His clay can take on any size or form, ranging from microscopic in size to birds big enough for him to fly upon to copies of himself the size of buildings. Deidara refers to his creations as art, believing the most beautiful thing about them to be their detonation. His admiration for his art is such that he believes it can't be defeated, leading to overconfidence in battle. Depending on the complexity or potency of one of his works, Deidara applies it a designation from anywhere between "C1" to "C4," the former being the most basic and the latter being his strongest attack. For his final act, Deidara also has a mouth on his chest that, once unsealed and provided with clay, turns him into a living bomb that destroys everything in a 10 kilometer radius. Deidara uses this as a last resort during his battle with Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother, in an effort to prove his art is supreme, though Sasuke is able to survive.

Deidara's character is modeled after famous Japanese abstract artist Tarō Okamoto. Deidara's catchphrase, "art is a bang," (and variations therein) was first popularized by Okamoto in 1981. Some of Deidara's larger explosions are also similar in appearance to some of Okamoto's works, with his final explosion based on one of Okamoto's most famous works, Tower of the Sun. Deidara's art style is referred to as superflat, a reference to types of manga that focus on critiquing modern Japan.


 * Hidan

Kakuzu

 * Ring: 北 ("north")
 * Ring position: Left middle finger
 * Partner: Formerly Hidan

Kakuzu (角都) is a missing-nin from Takigakure and Hidan's partner. He is a greedy individual, prioritizing things in terms of how much they are worth and finding money to be the only thing that he can depend on. Kakuzu's favorite source of income is collecting bounties, and he has even memorized the worth and information on some of the more dangerous targets. Due to this view of money Kakuzu refers to himself as the "Treasurer of Akatsuki", though it is unknown if this is an actual position. Despite finding Akatsuki to be a good source of income Kakuzu greatly dislikes the fact that he needs a teammate, due in part to his habit of killing anyone near him (partners included) when enraged. Having killed all of his previous partners as a result of this, Kakuzu was partnered with Hidan. Although neither enjoys being paired together Hidan's inability to die makes him the ideal teammate for Kakuzu.

Kakuzu's body is composed of a great deal of thick black threads that he can use to detach his limbs for long-range assaults. The threads themselves are also capable of piercing flesh, which Kakuzu uses to remove the still-living organs from his enemies. Once he has done so Kakuzu can integrate these younger, healthier organs into his body that, in theory, allow him to extend his life indefinitely. Kakuzu most prominently uses hearts in this way, keeping up to four extra hearts with him at any given time. He keeps these spare hearts stored within animal masks sewn to his back, and each of the masks can separate from his body and attack independently. Once removed from his body the masks can shoot powerful elemental blasts at opponents, three of which being fire, wind, and lightning. If the heart in Kakuzu's body is destroyed one of the masks can remerge with him so that he can take use of its heart, causing the mask to crumble away. Kakuzu also has an earth-based defensive technique that makes him virtually immune to physical attacks, though it is unclear which of his hearts this ability is attributed to. Kakuzu's masks are slowly destroyed at the hands of a group of Konohagakure ninja; Naruto Uzumaki is even able to destroy two of his hearts simultaneously and bring a third to the brink of failure. Although Kakuzu survives Naruto's attack he is left unable to move, allowing him to easily be finished off by Kakashi Hatake.

Orochimaru

 * Ring: 空 ("sky")
 * Ring position: Left little finger
 * Partner: Formerly Sasori

Orochimaru is a missing-nin from Konohagakure. After he defects from Konoha he joins Akatsuki and is paired with Sasori. Once Itachi Uchiha does the same, Orochimaru attempts to use one of his abilities to forcefully take control of Itachi's body. Itachi repels his effort and severs his hand as punishment, forcing Orochimaru to flee the organization in defeat. Upon leaving he takes his severed hand and the ring he wore on it with him. Because of this, as well as the fact that he had intimate knowledge of Akatsuki's secrets and plans, the members of Akatsuki began making every effort possible to find and eliminate him.

Sasori

 * Ring: 玉 ("jewel", "ball", also the king in shogi)
 * Ring position: Left thumb
 * Partner: Formerly Deidara, Orochimaru before that
 * Seiyu: Takahiro Sakurai, Yutaka Aoyama (Hiruko), Akiko Yajima (as a child)

Sasori (サソリ) is a missing-nin from Sunagakure. After the death of his parents Sasori was left in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo, who taught him all she knew about using puppets in battle. With his newfound knowledge he created puppets in his parents' likeness so that he could feel their love. Since they were only emotionless puppets his attempt failed, and he left them behind upon leaving the village. Once joining Akatsuki he was paired with Orochimaru, and after Orochimaru's betrayal Sasori took it upon himself to track his movements and plot his destruction. Sasori would come to form a better working relationship with Deidara, as seen by Deidara's admiration of Sasori's abilities. Although the two have differing views of art (Deidara preferring works that depart quickly and Sasori favoring long-lasting pieces), Deidara considers Sasori to be his master until the very end, even though Sasori never appreciated his ideals.

Sasori specializes in creating puppets out of the dead bodies of humans, which is done by removing its entrails and preserving it to prevent decomposition. Sasori is commonly seen with Hiruko, a puppet he wears like a suit so often that many characters can only recognize him while he is wearing it. For battle purposes he favors the puppet of the Third Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure whom he killed prior to his defection. Because the Third was once a living person, the Third's unique abilities remain intact and Sasori can utilize them at his leisure. His most versatile human puppet, however, is himself, as he has long since converted his body into one. In addition to giving him an unnaturally young appearance, Sasori's puppet body allows him to control hundreds of puppets at once. Since he needs part of his original body to control puppets Sasori has preserved his heart in a cylinder-shaped device that he wears upon his chest. Sasori is able to survive any kind of attack so long as his heart remains undamaged, and he can even use it to switch to new bodies by simply placing the cylinder onto a new puppet. Every weapon that his human puppets wield is also laced with a poison of Sasori's own design; the poison takes instantly numbs the body and kills the target after three days if a talented medical-nin cannot be found to create an antidote. Despite his large arsenal of weapons, Sasori is defeated after a prolonged battle with his grandmother and Sakura Haruno. In his final moments, however, he is able to feel the love of his parents, their puppet counterparts having been used by Chiyo to stab him through the heart in the form of a hug. Sasori's position would later be replaced by Tobi.

Kabuto Yakushi
Kabuto Yakushi is a former spy for Sasori, forced into the position through a form of mind control. Kabuto was sent to gain Orochimaru's confidence and relay information back to Sasori, though Orochimaru was able to remove Sasori's mind control soon after they met. Kabuto is left with the option to swear allegiance to whomever he likes, and Kabuto picks Orochimaru over Akatsuki. Despite this, Kabuto continues to pretend to be Sasori's spy so as to gain information on Orochimaru's behalf.

Yura

 * Rank: Jonin
 * Seiyu: Hideo Watanabe

Yura (由良) is a spy for Sasori who acts as a sleeper agent within Sunagakure. Yura is able to work his way into the Kazekage's advisory council, where he serves as a trusted member for many years. Once Sasori finds need of him his role as a subordinate of Akatsuki returns to him; he kills the Sunagakure ninja guarding the village's borders so that Sasori's partner, Deidara, can have safe passage into the village. He is later used as a sacrifice by the Akatsuki leader and becomes a copy of Itachi Uchiha, which is ultimately killed by Naruto Uzumaki.