Akatsuki (AR)

is a group of shinobi that exists outside the usual system of hidden villages. Over the course of several decades, Akatsuki took different forms and was led by different individuals. Though each iteration is viewed as either subversives or criminals, all seek to make the world a better place through their own means. Each Akatsuki tends to have multiple lairs across the world, inaccessible either due to their remoteness or the various security measures that protect them.

History
Akatsuki was originally founded by Yahiko during the Third Shinobi World War, alongside his childhood friends Nagato and Konan. Orphans of the Second Shinobi World War, the three created Akatsuki as a way to bring peace to their home country of Amegakure, which too often got caught in the crossfire of the Five Great Shinobi Countries' many conflicts. Their desire for an end to war attracted many fellow Ame ninja to their cause and, in time, word of their exploits began to travel beyond Amegakure's borders. Akatsuki's early fame was owed largely to Yahiko's leadership and his natural charisma, which kept the group united and motivated them to persevere despite the difficulties of their goal. Yahiko, however, viewed himself as merely a facilitator for Nagato, who would ultimately be the actual source of world peace because of his Rinnegan.

In time, Akatsuki's fame began attracting unwanted attention. They were first approached by Tobi, who claimed to be Madara Uchiha and offered to lend his assistance to Akatsuki, specifically Nagato. Yahiko was wary of Tobi and refused his offer, though Tobi claims Yahiko eventually agreed. Ame's leader, Hanzō, also became aware of Akatsuki and perceived them as a threat to his rule, a belief encouraged by Danzō Shimura. Hanzō approached Akatsuki offering to help them broker peace between Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. When Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan arrived to meet with him, however, they were ambushed by Hanzō's men and Danzō's Root, who took Konan hostage and forced Yahiko to commit suicide in order to save her. Enraged by Yahiko's death, Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and used it to slaughter their attackers, though Hanzō himself escaped.

The other members of Akatsuki were tipped off to Hanzō's plan and attempted to provide backup to Yahiko and the others. Tobi intercepted them and killed them all.

With Yahiko's dying breath he entrusted the pursuit of peace to Nagato. Nagato, grieved by Yahiko's death, came to believe that the world would never willingly consent to peace and that Akatsuki's previously pacifist approaches were therefore futile. He concluded that the only way the world would turn away from its constant warfare would be to experience such catastrophic death and destruction that it could never again stomach the idea of conflict. Intending to be the one to show these horrors to the world, Nagato began using the alias "Pain" and formed the Six Paths of Pain, into which he integrated Yahiko's corpse so that he could symbolically continue leading Akatsuki. Nagato sought out Obito, under the guise of Madara Uchiha, and accepted his earlier offer of support, which he provided in secret.

After the Third Shinobi World War, Akatsuki began recruiting S-rank missing-nin, including assembling a small subgroup to aid with financial flow, which sometimes involved a certain level of force. Once Akatsuki recruited its target of ten members, Akatsuki began following a three-step process to achieve this stated objective:
 * 1) Obtain enough money to support their organisation.
 * 2) Provide mercenary services at well under the competitive rate, using the money gathered in the first step to offset costs. This will make countries increasingly dependent on Akatsuki's services, corner the entire market for shinobi missions, and eventually put all of the shinobi villages out of business because they can't compete with Akatsuki's prices. By capturing and strategically deploying the tailed beasts, Akatsuki could quickly start and then quell wars, thereby speeding up the process.
 * 3) Once all other major shinobi forces have dissolved, Akatsuki will be able to quickly conquer all the countries of the world.

The early years of Nagato's Akatsuki were very successful, as the hidden villages increasingly hired Akatsuki to fight in wars and perform assassinations that the villages themselves were unwilling to get involved in during times of peace. Despite being such a popular and successful group, Akatsuki was largely a mystery to those outside the organisation, with many (incorrectly) coming to believe they operated out of Kirigakure. Although Akatsuki experienced some turmoil amongst its members over the years, the organisation was able to begin working towards capturing the tailed beasts.

Nagato's actual objective behind acquiring the tailed beasts was to harness the tailed beasts' chakra to create a powerful kinjutsu, using it to wipe out one side in a conflict and frighten the other side and the world at large to stop the fighting. If and when the fears abated and conflicts renewed, the kinjutsu would be deployed again, creating small periods of peace in an endless chain of hatred. Because all but one of the tailed beasts were in the possession of the hidden villages, their capture risked antagonising many of Akatsuki's former clients.

Akatsuki's mission to capture the tailed beasts gradually elevates them from the shadows of the world and, in turn, prompts a growing resistance by the hidden villages. After Deidara captures the One-Tail, Sasori is killed in battle with the Suna and Konoha forces sent to rescue the One-Tail's jinchūriki. Obito takes this open position as an opportunity to officially join Akatsuki as "Tobi", helping capture the Three-Tails. Around the same time, Hidan and Kakuzu capture the Two-Tails, but both are subsequently defeated in unrelated confrontations with Konoha's Nijū Shōtai. Kisame Hoshigaki later acquires the Four-Tails, after which both Deidara and Itachi separately die in battle against Sasuke Uchiha.

Because of their shrinking numbers, Tobi pressures Nagato into taking a more active role in capturing the remaining tailed beasts. He and Konan are first sent to capture the Six-Tails. They are afterwards sent to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails, and in the course of the resultant Pain's Assault the village is destroyed. When he finally locates and meets with the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki, Nagato begins to doubt the direction he has taken Akatsuki in since Yahiko's death. After Nagato's Six Paths of Pain are defeated, Naruto convinces him that a bloodless peace is worth pursing no matter how impossible it may seem. To make up for all the missteps he took, Nagato gives his life to revive the Konoha villagers that died during his attack, using his last breath to encourage Naruto to achieve the peace that he was never able to. With Yahiko and Nagato gone, Konan opts to leave Akatsuki.

Yahiko's Akatsuki

 * (deceased), (deceased),  (deceased),, ,  (deceased)

Nagato's Akatsuki

 * (deceased), (incapacitated),  (deceased),  (deceased),  (deceased),  (deceased),,  (disbanded; later deceased),  (deceased),  (deceased),  (disbanded), ,

Tobi's Akatsuki

 * Amaterasu Tanako (disbanded), (deceased), Kirameki Rōga (disbanded),  (deceased), Ochita (incarcerated),  (deceased),  (deceased)

Nagato's Akatsuki (Reborn)

 * Amaterasu Tanako, Deidara, Hidan, Itachi Uchiha, Kakuzu, Kirameki Rōga, Kisame Hoshigaki, Konan, Nagato, Ochita, Sasori

Kouta's Akatsuki

 * Emi Hoshigaki, Deisho, Hiro, Kouta, Ren Hoshigaki, Rōnin, Setsuna, Shisui Uchiha, Tenshi, Toshio

Classic Akatsuki
Members of Nagato's Akatsuki wear long, black cloaks with red clouds, a red interior, and a chin-high collar; Tobi and the members of Taka wear a similarly-marked hooded mantle. The red clouds represent the rain of blood that fell in Amegakure during its wars, and were viewed as a symbol of justice by its original members. The robes are very distinctive, allowing members of Akatsuki to be identified even from a distance.

Another trend started with Nagato is for members to cross out the symbol on their forehead protectors to symbolise the severed ties with their former villages, though some opt not to wear a forehead protector at all. All members also wear nail polish on their fingers and toenails. When travelling, members sometimes wear conical straw hats with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down over their faces, possibly to go unnoticed by the general population as most are S-class criminals.

Under Nagato, each member of Akatsuki is given one of ten rings, to be worn on a specific finger. Other than apparently signifying one's membership, the rings seem to have some role in sealing the tailed beasts into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, indicating which of the statue's finger the members should stand on.

New Gen. Akatsuki
In honor of the memory of the last generation, members of Kouta's Akatsuki wore newly modified versions of their predecessors' signature Alatsuki cloaks; they sported long black vests (worn open by most members) that were shorter in the front with red clouds near the bottom, a red interior, and a chin-high collar. Members also typically wore a distinctive red obi, notably kunoichi members, and different styled outfits underneath their vests with matching color schemes.

Associates
In addition to its core members, Akatsuki has several affiliates spread across multiple countries. Almost all of them associate only with specific members rather than the entire organisation.

Classic Akatsuki

 * Villages
 * Amegakure (base of operations for Pain), Kirigakure (previously controlled by Madara, and later Obito)
 * Allies
 * Yūra (Sasori's underling), Mukade (Sasori's underling), Funari (Kakuzu's subordinate), Ginji (Kakuzu's banker), Kyōya (Kakuzu's accountant), Zangei (Kakuzu's bounty collector), Kabuto Yakushi (Sasori's spy, later collaborator with Obito), Madara Uchiha (collaborator with Obito), Tobi (ally of Madara and Obito)
 * Groups
 * Akatsuki Task Force (expendable subordinates, later brief collaborators with Obito), Taka (affiliated group)

New Gen. Akatsuki

 * Scouts
 * Medical-nins

Classic Akatsuki
Under Nagato, Akatsuki members are organised into teams of two, usually paired based on perceived similarities (such as Itachi or Kisame) or advantageous combinations (such as Hidan and Kakuzu). Although some pairs get along better than others, few seem to actually like each other; members always have separate rooms when staying at hotels. Hostilities tend to exist even between members who aren't partners, though they so rarely meet that this is rarely an actual problem. Teams travel the world pursuing Akatsuki's goals, only convening when summoned by Nagato, typically to seal a tailed beast.


 * Nagato & Konan
 * Target(s): Six-Tails (Pain, Sealed), Nine-Tails (Pain, Failed)


 * Black Zetsu & White Zetsu
 * Target(s): None


 * Orochimaru & Sasori
 * Target(s): Unknown


 * Jūzō & Itachi
 * Target(s): None


 * Itachi & Kisame
 * Target(s): Nine-Tails (Itachi, Failed), Four-Tails (Kisame, Sealed), Eight-Tails (Kisame, Failed)


 * Sasori & Deidara
 * Target(s): One-Tail (Deidara, Sealed)


 * Kakuzu & Hidan
 * Target(s): Seven-Tails (Kakuzu, Sealed), Two-Tails (Hidan, Sealed)


 * Deidara & Tobi
 * Target(s): Three-Tails (Tobi, Sealed)

New Gen. Akatsuki
Under Kouta, Akatsuki members are organised in teams of two, the members paired with multiple partners within the organisation depending on the nature of the mission, although there is a repetitive pattern of certain partners being chosen to work together. Most pairs get along well with each other socially while others display similar interactions of past members. Despite this, there are also pairs that sync better on differemt missions, and they are chosen accordingly. Teams travel the world pursuing Akatsuki's goals (mostly money-making jobs), only convening when summoned by Kouta.

Trivia

 * if written as "Aka Tsuki" (赤月), translates to "red moon".