Quote Originally Posted by DarthEnder
But....there's 9 of them....
Yeah, and they're pretty obviously after all 9 bijou, of which the Kyuubi is strongest. If their plan succeeds, the strongest member is going to want the Kyuubi inside of him.

I think you have to look at Akatsuki like a pirate crew. They're all strong enough to deserve each other's respect, but there's certainly a hierarchy. Look at how Kisame defers to Itachi's judgements in their episodes in the 80s. So I think the strongest guy in a given situation will have the final say.