"Never thought the day would come when I'd see an old asshole like you looking like a snotty brat."

"Fucker."

The former Akatsuki members had gathered in the Land of Waves, all somewhat dazed and disbelieving of the situation they had been put in. Hoshiko detonated a small clay bomb to get their attention and distract them from the fight that was about to ensue.

"We have bigger issues on hand to solve than having arguments about who's a fucker or not. So, I suggest we get started on fixing them. Now shut the fuck up and stop inciting random, useless banters and quarrels with each other."

"Geez, when did you pick up a vocabulary?" Deidara asked.

"Blame Hidan."

"Ah."

°°°

"Itachi, we need to figure out how to prevent the coup d'etat without the massacre. You know that."

Itachi nodded.

"Well, I've got a plan, if you'll allow it."

Itachi, who slightly caught off guard, nodded.

"Danzo Shimura, one of the village elders, has multiple sharingan implanted in his right arm. He has also had correspondence with Orochimaru and controls ROOT, a highly secretive and guarded organization that works in Konoha's underground network.

 The two beforementioned facts alone are enough to have him arrested. If we can find solid proof, having the Sharingan returned to the Uchiha through some form of a treaty can smooth over relationships between the village and your clan.

 Taking it one step further, if shinobi from other villages assist in the gathering of information and evidence, it could open up opportunities for neutralities, if not alliances.

Sound good?"

Everyone else openly gaped at her.

Kisame turned to Deidara.

"Holy shit man, your sister's a fucking genius. The good genes skipped you, eh?"

°°°

Throughout the following months, the former Akatsuki members did their best in trying to find evidence that could send Danzo to prison.

When they met up in Konoha under the premises of watching the chunin exams four months later,  their efforts were quite fruitful.

Itachi, along with the help of Shisui Uchiha, a man feared across all nations for his ability to make a D-ranked jutsu as feared as an S-ranked one, had been able to obtain evidence of the several Sharingan implanted in his arm and a Sharingan in his right eye.

The rest of the Akatsuki members had been able to find evidence of his correspondence with Orochimaru, and Sasori and Hoshiko themselves had infiltrated a base and gotten their hands on a report.

A report about the success of the implantation of Hashirama's cells in Danzo.

Hidan looked at all the information collected.

"Damn, at this point, we don't even need Danzo arrested and executed. We could straight out bury him 6 feet under with all the evidence we gathered at this point!" 

He said.

Hoshiko sighed in relief.

One problem down. Rest of the world's problems to go.

A tired look shone in her eyes, one that went unnoticed by the former Akatsuki member's eyes,

Except for Sasori's.

He stared at her eyes intently.

Why did that look seem so familiar?

Why?

He continued staring, searching for an answer.

...ah.

It looked familiar...

Because the look in her eyes was the same in his.

°°°

Nighttime had fallen. Hoshiko was on the roof of the hotel the Akatsuki members were staying in, save for Itachi and Obito.

Someone walked up next to her and lay down next to where she was doing the same.

"You're tired, aren't you? Not the I-haven't-gotten-enough-sleep kind of tired.

The I've-seen-too-much kind of tired. 

The let-me-just-be kind of tired."

Hoshiko let out a hollow laugh.

"I suppose that makes two of us, then, Sasori."

He glanced over at her.

"I've lived for far longer than you have, seen far more than you have, done far more than you have, and yet, you're just as tired as I am. 

Why is that?"

She glanced over at him as well.

"I know things I shouldn't know.

 Do things I shouldn't have to do.

 Seen things I shouldn't have to see.

Heard things I shouldn't have to hear.

Been given a second shot at life even when I didn't want to live.

When I revived you, I truly did want you to live.

And yet, undeniably, a small part of me was saying,

Do it. Might as well give your life to someone who actually wants to live.

We were reincarnated as deities, gods even, of a world we never even knew existed.

You're 5. I am too, but at the wrong time.

Kisame, Kakuzu, Obito, Hidan, Deidara, Nagato, Konan, they're all loyal shinobi to their villages.

We were sent back to change things,

To right our wrongs,

To change the world for the better,

To play saviours of a world completely strange and foreign to us.

There are things that remain the same, 

And will, no matter what,

But what happens once we change the outcome of those events?

What happens once we stop those events from happening as well?

Will it affect other events?

Will it change how they play out?

Will it change how it'll happen?

Will it change when it'll happen?

I was sent back to the realm of living when all I wanted to do was die.

I was sent back to save people when I was raised, trained, and made to kill.

I was sent back to fix my mistakes, yet I've made so many I've lost count.

I was sent back to make the world a better place, yet without a way of being better for it."

A lone tear glistened in the moonlight, trailing down Hoshiko's face.

"I'm tired, Sasori. So, so tired."

She whispered.

Sasori looked back up at the stars.

"You're not a bad person for the way you tried to find your happiness. Just don't forget the people you'll leave behind.

You're a lot stronger than you know you are.

It's hard, choosing whether to just take one pill or take one too many.

They call it depression.

You probably call it war.

An internal war,

Between a body that wishes to live,

And a mind and soul that wish for nothing but death.

Let yourself cry.

People only do so when they've been strong for far too long."

And cry she did.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, electric blue eyes staring up at the starlight sky.

Sasori had never seen someone look so empty before.

"I've always been afraid of losing the people I love." She said.

"I wonder if there's anyone out there afraid to lose me."

Sasori felt a prickly sensation at the back of his eyes, something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I know I am."

She looked at him, eyes desperate and pleading.

"Promise me."

"Promise you what?"

"Promise you won't leave me."

Sasori knew he shouldn't have made the promise.

"I promise."

But he did.

And he resolved to keep it.

~Extra~

Deidara stood behind a structure on the roof, listening.

I ship it.