I revised chapters 37 - 40, I suggest re-reading those before reading these chapters.

Beta:

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Gaara

Gaara came to like the rain.

It fell upon him, cold and refreshing. Completely opposite of the desert he had lived in before.

He stared up at the sky, dark clouds that covered it.

He hadn't seen a blue sky in years. After Guren took him out of Sunagakure, he had only ever been in rain.

Beautiful rain.

The past three years of his life had been the best years by a long shot. He didn't remember destroying Sunagakure, but he didn't really care about it. Ever since Guren quieted the bijū inside him, he hadn't heard a peep of madness. Under her guidance he was able to sleep deeply, peacefully, each and every night. The sound of rain soothed him more than mere words could describe.

He hovered near her in the Land of Water, quiet and eager to help the woman who changed his life for the better.

Today he had to be separated from her. While she remained in Water, he had to go to Ame.

It was a dark city, Amegakure. Its buildings reached into the heavens, looming above him. Some might have been intimidated by their odd styles, but Gaara merely thought them strange.

"Yoo-hoo," called a voice, a hand waving up and down in front of Gaara. "You there?"

Gaara blinked, noticing the tall red-head in front of him. They were lean with short, messy red hair. They wore the standard Jōnin uniform that all Amegakure shinobi wore. The only thing that stood out was the Akatsuki armband.

Gaara had his own Akatsuki armband.

The armband meant they directly served under an Akatsuki member. Gaara was Guren's disciple.

The person in front of him grinned. "Ah, got your attention? I'm Uzumaki Reo! I'm under Kisame."

Gaara nodded curtly.

"You're here for the extraction, right?"

Again, Gaara nodded.

Today, the Black Acolytes would extract the bijū from inside Gaara. Guren told him it would be a tiring process that would leave him weakened for weeks. He was supposed to stay and rest in Amegakure until fully recovered.

"I'm here to escort you," Reo said. They offered their arm to Gaara.

Gaara stared mutely at it.

"I promise I don't bite," teased Reo. Then paused. "Unless Owari-sama was into that kind of stuff, then hell yeah I do."

Owari-sama. The person who rescued Guren, and who orchestrated the Akatsuki's movements. Gaara had only met Owari-sama once, and that was when Owari-sama came to check up on the Land of Water. The country had undergone rapid development in the past three years under the Akatsuki's watchful gaze.

There were no civilians in the Land of Water.

Everyone was trained to hold a weapon.

Everyone was trained to fight for their cause.

To save the world from monsters.

Gaara remembered watching the small children throw kunai after kunai after kunai after kunai—

"Well come on," said Reo. "Follow me. Ah, it's your first time in Ame, ain't it?"

Gaara nodded quietly.

"Whatchya think?"

"I like the rain," he whispered.

"Yeah it's pretty nice. Have you seen the other countries?"

Gaara shook his head.

Reo frowned. "Oh, right. You're a jinchūriki so kinda risky, huh? Do you want to?"

Gaara hesitated. "... I..."

He had not given it much thought. He liked the rain. Under the rain, he was protected, safe, and comfortable.

"... I'd like to see snow," he said after a thought.

But others weren't like that, were they? They didn't have a Guren or Owari-sama to save them.

Poor them.

Reo beamed. "I love snow! How about when you're all healed up, we take a mission to the Land of Iron together, huh?"

"Together?"

"Yeah, we can be buddies." Reo winked. "Or more."

Gaara didn't know what to say to that.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Naruto

Naruto sat in between Sakura and Hinata.

The three of them had taken refuge in a hidden cavern. They had a small fire going, enough to give them light in the dark cave and provide warmth for the cold desert night. Sakura was humming a little tune as she slowly carved in what Naruto could only assume was human bone. He stared at her work.

He couldn't read her expression behind her ANBU Rabbit mask, but judging by her humming he figured she was smiling.

Hinata was resting against the back cavern wall, her breathing slow and even. She had likely fallen asleep as soon as Naruto returned, relieved that he would be able to take watch duty for a while. Naruto was a damn good sensor, after all. He could sense anything within her Byakugan range—maybe even a bit further—so the two tended to swap sentry duty.

Sakura looked over at Naruto. "Find the caravan?"

"Yeah," he said. "Wiped 'em."

"Anything to go off of?"

"Nothing good," he admitted. "Is that human bone?"

He didn't need to see her face to know she was beaming at him. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to make a little doll," she explained. "Like the wooden one Sasori gave me."

"But out of human bone?"

"Yes."

Naruto snorted softly. "Gross."

"How so?" she asked. "I cleaned it off, see? Doesn't even have a bloodstain."

"Still gross."

"Wha—it's cleaner than your room."

"Is not!"

"Oh yes it is! You made sensei scream when she saw what was under your bed," Sakura sharply retorted.

"One time—!"

"It was not one time. You had a mold named after you because of what you left in your sock drawer—"

"ONE TIME."

"IT SHOULDN'T HAVE EVER BEEN ONE TIME."

Hinata whimpered. "Guys. Please me sleep. I haven't sleepy for three days."

"Please me sleep," Sakura blandly repeated as Naruto said, "Haven't sleepy?"

Hinata tiredly kicked them both.

"Wait, wait, wait," Naruto said. "Hina-chan, is it gross to use human bones for a doll?"

Naruto felt Hinata stare at him in disbelief behind her raven mask. "What?"

"Grosser than Naruto's room?" Sakura scoffed.

"Nothing is grosser than Naruto's room," Hinata said seriously.

"Fuck you," Naruto grumbled.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Kisame

Kisame hoisted the unconscious woman over his shoulder, whistling as he carried her away.

Yugito Nii. She was the jinchūriki from Kumo and housed the nibi, one of the nine bijū needed. She was a tricky opponent, only in the sense of trying to get her out of the damn village.

Luckily for him, he had an excellent partner in crime.

Madara.

The Uchiha legend was able to infiltrate Kumogakure without any fuss and successfully implanted a powerful genjutsu on Yugito that compelled her to leave. As soon as she was out of the village, Kisame knocked her unconscious and was now carrying her away to a safe location to begin the extraction.

Gaara's extraction was set to be completed before sunrise, which meant they could immediately work on the nibi by noon.

Madara walked two paces behind Kisame, his footsteps not making a sound.

The Uchiha rarely went on missions. He wasn't really needed—Kisame could have infiltrated on his own—but his presence helped a lot. As Kisame was one of the few people who knew the truth behind the Akatsuki, he was one of the lucky ones that got to regularly see Madara.

Madara couldn't linger in Amegakure without Nagato noticing him, so he usually roamed throughout the other countries.

He'd take missions for his own amusement, not because it was a necessity.

Kisame couldn't blame him. Had to be crazy boring sitting around and waiting.

Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait for much longer. If everything went to plan...

Well.

One month.

In one month, everything would end.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Sasori

Sasori had set up shop in Konoha shortly after Sunagakure's invasion. With Naasica's assistance, he was easily able to obtain a citizen visa, along with plenty of patrons. He worked on commission, although he rarely accepted any.

It was more so to keep up appearances. He had little need for the money made doing commission work when he was managing his spy network.

Sasori's hands moved slowly as he worked on the wet clay before him. His current commission was for some noble in the village. He didn't care too much for them, but they were a blabbermouth who always had a knack for finding interesting gossip. It was prudent to stay on their good side and listen to them on occasion.

He heard the soft bells chime. Someone had entered his shop.

Sasori didn't pause in his sculpting, recognizing the chakra signature.

The man entered the backroom where Sasori worked, a big grin on his face. "Hey, Sasori."

"Obito," Sasori politely greeted.

"Got something for you," said Obito.

"Oh?" Sasori glanced over at him.

Obito held out a scroll. "Yep. From the princess herself."

Sasori would have smiled if he was human.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Naasica

I stood on the lake, Madara's Sharingin whirling lazily.

With his eye, I was able to pierce straight through the sanbi's genjutsu.

I could feel its chakra at the bottom of the lake, heavy and ominous.

Yet it only stayed there, stagnant... helpless...

I put my hands together, pulling forth my chakra.

Gaara's bijū would be extracted by sunrise that day. Kisame would handle the next one, while I prepared the sanbi.

Before the week ended, the Akatsuki would have extracted three out of the nine bijūs. Next week we would tackle three more.

Naruto would likely still be dealing with the roaming raiders around Suna for the next month. He knew the hiraishin, but he could not yet travel countries away like his father. As long as we moved quickly enough, we could catch the final three bijū without any of the other villages noticing.

It would be easier that way.

The barrier Minato had set up around Konoha was too powerful. Forcefully taking Naruto would be... difficult.

I could probably trick him... invite him somewhere far away... quiet... remote... I'd prefer not to take such a risk. Ever since Naruto learned the hiraishin it would be too much of a gamble to sneak attack him.

My trees dove into the water below, rushing to the sanbi.

It would be nice if I didn't have to fight him at all.

It would be nice if he agreed with my plan.

But I wasn't the type to hold out hope for such.

It didn't matter anyway.

By the end of the month, everything would have changed.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

No author notes for the next few chapters since I'm doing a big update to complete the story. Some chapters will be long and some will be short, I spaced them out for the overall flow.

See you at the end!