"We need a plan." Sakura said.

Mei said, still in her monotone, "I know. We go in, Sakura can take Sasori. Naruto and Kakashi, you take Kisame. Sasuke will take Itachi. I'll go for Deidera. Sasuke, I know you want to fight Itachi by yourself, but if it looks like you need help, Kakashi or I will team up with you. I think that the rest of the Akatsuki isn't physically there, and are instead using some sort of jutsu. But that doesn't mean they can't hurt you. Sakura, Sasori is the puppet master-and he deals with poison. Since you're a medic ninja, you'll be fighting him. Naruto, Kisame has a sword that if it touches you, it'll deplete your chakra. You have the most chakra, but be quick. Try not to do your usual head-on attacks. Go for speed and stealth. You and Sakura may have to switch opponents during battle. Sasuke, you already know about Itachi. But we may have to team up. If so, I'll weaken him so you can finish him off. Our first priority is Gaara. Nothing else matters. That includes revenge! Got it? Good. Let's go!"

They cautiously went to the entrance, and after evading a few traps, they were in.

Mei stopped. Her dream! It was just like her dream. Itachi, Kisame, Deidera, and Sasori were standing on a huge hand, with Gaara in the center, his demon being sucked out of him. The rest were just hologram looking shapes, not truly there, but somehow still performing the jutsu. Her eyes narrowed, and her sharingan activated. She pulled out her two narrow black swords, knowing that they had already spotted her.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there, or come down to get your asses kicked?!" Mei said.

Kisame grinned. "I'll take her."

"Sorry. But I'm fighting Deidera."

"What'd I do to you, hun?" Deidera asked.

"You hurt my idiot."

"You mean red here?"

"Yeah."

Meanwhile Sasuke glared at Itachi. "I will kill you."

"Hn. Foolish brother."

"I'm gonna beat you this time, fish boy! Believe it!" yelled Naruto.

"Heh. We'll see about that, squirt."

"So you found me." Sasori said in a bored voice.

"Yes. You'll pay for what you did to those ninja." Sakura said.

Their opponents jumped down, and faced the young ninja-and Kakashi.

Deidera sent exploding birds after Mei. But she was already gone. She appeared behind him, and tried to cut him down, but he dodged-barely. She threw a kunai at him. But it was just a clone. She whipped around to find an explosive bird. She was blasted to the ground. But she got up, apparently not even noticing the pain. He tried to attack from behind, but this time she was one step ahead of him. She was above him, and she did a flip. On the last turn, she brought her foot down on his chest, knocking him into the ground, breaking the cement beneath him. Deidera slowly got up, but Mei was taking deep breaths, apparently preparing for something big. Deidera went into a defensive stance, and sent three explosive birds at her, but to no avail. Her eyes snapped open, and her swords set off the birds. As the dust cleared, Mei emerged, not even singed. She then swung her swords, with fire coming out of them. It appeared that they controlled fire, so his bombs were now useless against her. She quickly beat him.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Kakashi were fighting Kisame. Kisame was wielding his chakra eating sword. He swung towards Naruto, but it was just a clone! Kakashi attacked on his right, while Naruto and another clone were making a Rasengan behind him. As Kisame was busy fighting off Kakashi, Naruto and his clone attacked from behind. But he was a clone too! He appeared behind Naruto, and hit him and Kakashi with one swipe of his sword. But then, Naruto shot up from underground, and hit Kisame with a Rasengan. Kakashi quickly hit Kisame with a fireball. They had used a substitution jutsu.

Sasuke and Itachi both activated their sharingan. They charged at each other, brandishing kunai. Sasuke threw his, and Itachi dodged, then got in close to stab Sasuke. But it was just another substitution jutsu. Sasuke tried to kick Itachi from behind, but Itachi grabbed his leg. Sasuke smirked and whipped around to his left side, where Itachi's other arm couldn't block, and kicked his head, sending him flying to the ground. But before Sasuke could attack again, he had gotten up. Itachi made several hand signs and blew a huge fireball at Sasuke. But Mei, already done with Deidera, jumped in front of it, and controlled the fire with her swords, redirecting it at Itachi. Sasuke then attacked while Itachi was dodging the fireball. He used his Lion's Barrage attack, and knocked him out. He was about to deliver the finishing blow but was interrupted by Sakura and Sasori's fighting.

Sakura and Sasori warily circled each other. Sasori attacked first, his tail whipping out from under his cloak. Sakura dodged it, and focused her chakra into her fists, preparing to attack. She tried to hit him, but she missed. Sasori's tail whipped around, and hit her. But it was just a clone, while Sakura hit him from behind. But he was a clone too! And this time, he really did hit her. She shakily got to her feet. She coughed up some blood, but she was able to quickly extract the poison from the wound. He laughed, and called her a weakling. Her eyes blazing, she used her chakra to enhance her speed. She hit him, and knocked him into the midst of Mei, Sasuke, and Itachi.

Meanwhile, the demon had been extracted from Gaara. Mei watched, frozen, as she saw Gaara drop to the floor, and just like in her dream, he landed with a sickening thud. She ran to him, and checked for a pulse. But while everyone was distracted by Gaara, Itachi had recovered, and now appeared next to her.

"Don't bother. He's dead. You could've saved him, but you couldn't. It's your fault." Itachi said, obviously enjoying seeing the tortured expression on her face.

"You're right. I couldn't save him. But I can still stop you from killing more people." Mei said, standing up with a determined expression on her face, somehow managing not to cry.

Mei's POV...

He's dead. She thought as she watched Gaara fall and hit the ground. I couldn't save him. I'll them. I'll kill them all! (inner self) I had a dream about it, and I still couldn't save him. They killed our Gaara. Please! Let me kill them! Mei ran to Gaara, dropped to her knees, and checked for a pulse. He really is dead. We told him to be careful...It's still our fault. I know. She vaguely heard Itachi speaking, but it didn't really register until she heard him say it was her fault. It really is my fault. It is. And although we may not have been able to save him, maybe we might be able to stop him from But maybe, maybe we can stop him from killing anyone else. Plus we can kill that miserable son of a- We can't kill him. He's Sasuke's. But everyone else is fair game. "You're right. I couldn't save him. But I can still stop you from killing more people." Mei said, barely feeling the pain from Deidera's explosives. I will avenge you, Gaara. Don't forget me! When I get my hands on him...

"All your demonic power, and you still couldn't save him." he taunted.

"What do you mean demonic power?!" Mei demanded.

"Oh, that's right. You don't know who your father is, do you?" Itachi said.

"No, I don't. You killed everyone who could've told me. Remember?!" Mei sneered.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi had gathered next to Mei, ready to assist her. While Deidera, Sasori, and Kisame had somewhat recovered, and joined Itachi.

"Then allow me to enlighten you. Over a decade ago, the Nine-tailed fox walked the earth, although I'm fairly certain you already know that." Itachi said, with a pointed look towards Naruto. "But although he did use his fox form to wreak havoc, he also could revert to human form. Male human form that is. And nine months later, you were born. That's right. The demon sealed inside that hyper-active idiotic ninja, is your father!" Itachi said.

Mei was silent for a moment. So I'm half demon. That means I'm probably your demonic side. Yeah, you are pretty violent. But I don't mind. That'll just make it easier to kill that sick bastard. Good. Let's do it now. No. Even though I know we can kill him, it would be easier and safer if we have an actual planSo what's our plan? We use our Mengekyo Sharingan on him. I was hoping you'd say that."So what? That'll just make it easier to avenge Gaara." Mei finally said.

"You sound like my foolish little brother." Itachi sneered.

"Yes, but unlike him, I won't kill you. He can. Also, I'm going to go running to that snaky baka!" Mei said, her sharingan becoming more visible.

"I thought that using the Mengekyo Sharingan was immoral." Itachi said, still sneering.

"It is immoral, but seeing as I'm using it against an immoral bastard, it all seems to work out." Mei said, shifting into an offensive stance.

Both Itachi and Mei activated their Mengekyo Sharingan's at the same time. They were now both in the blood-red world of pain, battling for control. But Mei won, and Itachi dropped to the ground, clutching his head. Mei handed Sasuke one of her swords, wordlessly. Sasuke slowly walked over to Itachi, sword in hand. He stopped over his brother's shaking form. He raised the sword high, and brought it down. But he stopped it inches before his brother's head.

"You aren't worth killing. I see that now. Instead, live on, live on in guilt and weakness, knowing that I have spared your life." Sasuke said coldly.

"Hey! They're gone!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed.

Mei and Sasuke looked up. It was true, while they were busy with Itachi, the rest of the Akatsuki had fled.

"Cowards!"

Mei walked back over to Gaara lifeless body, and knelt down. Gaara, she thought, I love you. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. But I'll make sure that everyone knows what a hero you are. You sacrificed your life for your village, and you will be missed. I hope you're in a better place now. I'm just so sorry that I never got to tell you how I truly feel. I hope you can hear me now. I love you.

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a/n: Rose0404: I know. Really sad, and total cliffhanger.

Sakura: -sniff-

Naruto: Gaara!

Sasuke: Hn. -faint concern showing through-

Mei: ...

Kakashi: ...

Rose0404: I'm so sorry! My next chapter will be better, and happier! I promise! Oh, speaking of which, do you like my new, extra long chapters? And I also got this chapter out extra-fast! Yay!

Everyone glares at her. How can she be happy?!

Rose0404: -sweat drops- Once again, truly sorry.

Mei: ...

Rose0404: Well, um, next chapter I guess. Oh, and I still don't own Naruto. But my funds are up to $3.45! Haha ha ha...um, well, ahem. Next chapter. Oh wait! If you don't review, a main character death happens! Maybe that's why I might have killed Gaara...