Akatsuki: Who Are They? by Kunoichi Warrior

Who are the Akatsuki? What do they want? These are questions that can be answered with a little research, so I did some and this is what I found.

Akatsuki, meaning dawn or daybreak, is a criminal organization made of nine S-rank ninja. The Akatsuki extract demons from the people that hold them. They are separated into two-man teams, each going after a demon. (Example: Gaara and Naruto.) They were first introduced in Chapter: 139, episode: 80, when Itachi and Kisame were after Naruto.

The Members wear black cloaks with red clouds, paint their nails and wear rings that they use to extract the demons. In addition, the village headband has a line right through it to symbolize a broken connection between the person and the village. Below is some information of some members that I know.

Akatsuki Leader:
You don't exactly see his face, but it is rumored that he is the Fourth Hokage because of his outline.

Itachi Uchiha:
Captain of Akatsuki. He killed his clan, leaving his little brother Sasuke alive. He possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan and is paired with Kisame.

Kisame Hoshigaki:
One of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist Village. He looks half-shark and is paired with Itachi Uchiha.

Deidara:
A skillful fighter of the Hidden Rock Village, he has mouths in the palms of his hands. He and Sasori were chosen to extract the demon from Gaara. After Sasori's death, he was paired with a new Akatsuki member, Tobi.

Sasori:
A puppet master from the Hidden Sand Village. His grandmother was the one that placed the demon inside of Gaara. After Gaara's death, his grandmother gave up her life to resurrect Gaara. Sasori was killed by Sakura.

Zetsu:
Not much is known about Zetsu, except that he is from the Hidden Grass Village and that he can blend into Grass, and trees. The right side of his body is black, while the other side is white.

Hidan:
He is the slowest attacker in Akatsuki, but he and his partner, Kakuzu, easily defeat the two tailed demon cat. He seems to belong to the Hidden Rain Village and to a certain religion in which killing is encouraged.

Kakuzu:
A fighter from the Hidden WaterFall Village. He is the tallest member and is in love with money and will do anything to get it. He is pissed off with Hidan, and unfortunately, paired with him.

Tobi:
He has a very formal and correct manner of speech and wanted to fill in Sasori's position in Akatsuki after he had died. To his luck he was eventually let in Akatsuki as Deidara tells him how a member of Akatsuki is supposed to act.

Fans of Naruto believe that Obito Uchiha, despite being deceased, is Tobi. This is because of the similarity of name between Tobi and Obito. It is also believed Obito and Tobi are the same person because the apparent mechanization of parts of Tobi's body correspond to the injuries Obito suffered when last seen. In particular, Tobi wears a mask that directs attention to his one working eye. Obito had, in his dying moments, let his other eye be surgically extracted and implanted into his friend Kakashi.

It's unknown if and how Obito would have become Tobi, but at the time of Obito's apparent death, Akatsuki had at least two members who were highly skilled at the preservation of a body's abilities after death; Orochimaru and Sasori. Fans speculate that if he is in fact Tobi, he could be the third Mangekyō Sharingan user that Itachi had mentioned.

Unnamed Akatsuki Member:
Nothing is known about this member, except that she is most probably female because of the flower in her blue hair.

Former Members:

Orochimaru:
He fled Akatsuki in fear of Itachi's power. The ring could still be seen on Orochimaru's original body.

Subordinates:

Kabuto:
He worked as Sasori's spy, but was also secretly working for Orochimaru. Deidara tells Sasori that one of his spies is a traitor. It appears Kabuto is the traitor.


For more information, go to:
http://www.saiyanisland.com/naruto/?naruto=info/Akatsuki.