The dress code of the Akatsuki is uniform for each member. They are seen wearing long black coats with red interiors and chin-high collars. When circumstances, such as weather or the need for disguise, call for it, members will wear large conical hats made of straw with balls that hang down to cover their faces. Each member wears a different color nail polish on both their finger and toenails. To symbolize their split with their home village, some members wear their village headband with a scar running through the middle. Only Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara, Kakuzu and Hidan have been known to wear these headbands. The most important piece of Akatsuki uniform is the ring; each member wears a different ring on a different finger.
Every member of the Akatsuki was banished, exiled or defected from their home village before joining forces with the group. Each member of the group has committed heinous and vicious crimes against their villages, forever marking them as outcasts and villains. Itachi Uchiha is one exception. The motivation for his crime, murdering his entire clan, was more complex and complicated than originally thought, eventually leading Uchiha to turn against Akatsuki. Each member has a specific reason for leaving their village and joining Akatsuki. Most of the reasons symbolize ideologies such as love, spite or retribution.
The main goal of Akatsuki is world domination. This can only be achieved through the capture of all nine of the tailed beasts. Each member of the group is paired with another member. Each couple is responsible for the tracking and capture of one or two of the tailed beasts. Even though some partners do not get along well, they are paired based on their skills. It is an unofficial rule that beast hunting partners must put aside their differences and work together to achieve Akatsuki's main goal. Zetsu is the only member not involved in a partnership; however, Zetsu has split personalities which function naturally as a pair.