Sasuke was aware now that his brother had manipulated him badly. Before all this started. He is doing so even now, and that's a fact he's well aware of. Even Itachi himself didn't believe half the things he'd had said to him. All those blatant nonsense about power that he spoke about all those years ago to torment him. It was all only to drive him over the edge for his own personal reasons, whatever they might be. Sasuke admits that it had worked, too. Itachi did believe that emotional ties made one weak. That's why he severed them all, except for one. Him.

Akatsuki is a group of individuals, but it was still a group. They may not care about eachother like his previous team, but they function on the same principles of support and teamwork. Infact, they do so better than any team he had ever known about. That's where there strength is. That's the power that had led them to their greatness. They never failed a single mission, turned back from a single task. An almost perfect track record.

Almost.

Sasuke pondered over the word as Naruto's happy face floated in front of his eyes.

They failed one mission.

He could never forget the day he truly became strong, just as Itachi intended. It was raining. The sky crying with him as he held Naruto's lifeless body in his arms. He cried. After a long time, ever since his family's death Sasuke never cried. He promised himself to be strong.

They never got Naruto.

He remembers Kakashi's dead body lying not too far from the two of them. His hand that was glowing its brightest a few minutes ago. The infamous Chidori blade, a legacy that he gifted Sasuke. The weapon that pierced its way through Naruto's heart, the same way it did to Rin Nohara.

And now he was dead too. Kakashi Hatake of Sharingan, the copy-cat ninja, the sixth Hokage. Killed by his own student.

His lone black eye was still open, looking at Sasuke. Giving him something he can never give himself. Forgiveness.

...And they never will.

He scratched absentmindedly at the curse seal on his shoulder. A permanent reminder of his bad judgement. Seven years. Had it really been that long? he kept asking himself. Seven years since he abandoned his life, his future. He sold his soul for power seven years ago. And now his thirst for power and revenge had brought him here. To Madara Uchiha.

And hopefully the real one this time.

***

Renai sat alone on the roof of the colossal tower. After their little trip, Sakura decided to turn in. She didn't see anyone after that. Even Madara had the rule to seek her out. But he must be planning some new way for world domination somewhere. She has no idea where the rest of them are. Which she hated the most at the moment. Not being bothered by someone with an evil plan and having all the colourful ways to use her as a device to their plot meant that now she was left alone. Alone with her thoughts, which is not a pretty place to be in.

Renai was used to being a tool, means to an end. She stopped feeling hurt, or guilt or shame a long time ago. She never had any principles, no rule book to guide her. Survival had only ever been her true motive. Everyone and everything she does is nothing but a stepping stone. She doesn't have any moral code to abide to. Why would she? This is how this world works after all. Eat, or be eaten. While living in a pit of darkness, you cannot dream for a sunny day. She was darkness.

She never had anyone to show her how it is above this hellish depth. She never had hope, or love. No family or friends. Nothing. All is knows is seducing people, using them for her own benefit or someone else's, whoring, spying, killing, etc. She was cursed. Her soul was damned and she would take down everyone she comes in touch with, with herself.

Maybe Deidara was right. 'A girl like me' can never make any friends.

She felt something wet dripping down her upper lip. Wiping it off she saw blood on her palm. "Oh, not again..." she erupted in a fit of cough. She felt nauseated and dizzy. Her throat became as dry as course sandpaper and her chest hurt. Her stomach churned painfully and bile rose up to her mouth and nostrils. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, her head throbbing like a drum being banged. Her vision started to blur and that's when her balance slipped and Renai felt the gushing air from below. She was falling from the roof.

***

Deidara felt the soothing, soft texture of the clay against his palm as he rolled the little ball around his hand. He let out a deep sigh while looking out towards the sky through the glass panels of the window. The beautiful canvas full of colours was something he found himself enjoying a lot ever since his return. The streaks of red and orange with smudges of purple, yellow and blue here and there, it was captivating. The fact that all of it will be gone in a few minutes only made it even more perfect. A fleeting beauty, the entire point of his art.

The skies had always been his escape. High above, perched on his clay birds, he was far from everything an everyone, the world and all its problems. Come to think of it, he always ran from everything, escaping into his art. Destroying and turning them into his art-pieces. He ran way from his problems, fleeting from confrontations, hiding from truth, creating shadows of deception, never looking back all the pain and sufferings he had caused in his maniac frenzy.

He succeeded in escaping it all the day he died in that explosion, his masterpiece. He left behind a scar on the face of the earth, for generations to see and marvel. He succeeded in running way from this world, this weeping village, the Akatsuki. He finally was the one with the long endless skies. To fly like a bird. He was free.

How could he ever knew that freedom was so short-lived.

His trains of thoughts got interrupted as he felt a huge and strange chakra falling from above and wizz past him leaving behind a terrible feel to it. As he looked down to see the free-falling object his breath hitched in his throat and he moved on mere instinct.Getting quickly up on top of his bird, he went after the surging dark aura catching her just on the nick of time from hitting the ground and end up splattered like a watermelon.

"RENAI!" he called trying to get her to open her eyes as the black vine like engraves spread quickly on her skin, pulsating as if something was inside it flowing fast and taking over her form. "WHAT HAPPENED? STAY AWAKE. RENAI!" he kept yelling to deaf ears as the throbbing branches reached her eyes and they turned pitch black. "Shit." he hissed quickly making his way to the top of the tower while yelling to the clouds above. "PEIN! Get Sasori-danna, now!"