Last time:

Temari turned and faced everyone. "It is official. Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara have been taken by Akatsuki! We need to prepare for retrieval! Also, we need to alert the Hokage of this event."

By the time Tsunade received the letter—a day later—the Rebellion had fallen and Temari was the official Kazekage with the entire village's support—no matter how grudgingly some of it was given.

Naruto awoke to pure and unadultered darkness. Even with his unnaturally heightened eyesight, he could only make out faint outlines. He was about to move when he was hit with the memory of what happened while tied to Kisame's sword.

'Should I risk it?' He pondered his options for a few minutes before coming to the conclusion that the pros definitely outweighed the cons. Slowly, ever so slowly, he started to move, bracing himself for any potential pain…only there was none. With this sudden success, he boldly started to move about to find out about his surroundings.

Suddenly he came to a jolting halt only mere inches away from where he started. "What the hell?" Naruto tried to move his arms. A jangling sound and a sudden halt in movement made the blonde realize that he was shackled. A few moments later found a very depressed jinchuuriki.

'Both my arms and legs are shackled—not just any shackles, chakra absorbing shackles, I'm in total darkness, and I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that I'm in the Akatsuki base where I will have the Kyuubi forcefully taken from me, which will mean my death. Oh joy of joys.'

"DAMNIT!" The frustrated scream was emphasized with a fist slammed into the wall.

Naruto was about to go into another depression spree when he heard a whisper of a sound. It was almost dismissed when he heard it again, only louder.

"Who's there?! Come on out and face me, jackass!" The Konoha jinchuuriki's voice echoed through the black.

"It is me, Gaara," the emotionally flat voice sounded weak. "Are you okay?"

Naruto suddenly felt both relieved and depressed to hear his friend's voice with him. That meant that Akatsuki now had both the one-tailed and nine-tailed beasts. He sighed. "Hey, Gaara. I take it you're shackled as well. I'm fine. Are you okay? What happened to the Rebellion? What happened to the rest of the teams?" The worry was evident in his voice. Gaara could easily tell.

The Suna shinobi closed his eyes. He didn't want this to happen to his friend. He was worried about his own well-being too, but he couldn't help but worry for his friend as well. Gaara was the one-tail. Akatsuki had obviously come for him first since he was the "easiest" to take. So that meant the organization was going in order. If the group had to go in order for their plans, and not just because it was easier for them, then what were they going to do with Naruto? If he wasn't needed right away, then what would happen? That is, however, making the assumption that Akatsuki didn't intentionally gather Naruto. If they did…he didn't want to think about it. Gaara was worried as his mind went through all the possibilities.

Slowly, the redhead pulled himself out of his dreary thoughts and answered his friend. "I am well, just exhausted. The drain on my chakra makes it harder to contain Shukaku. I do not know what happened to the Rebellion, but it was a setup. Everything was just a ruse to get closer to us so we could be captured. So I have no clue as to what happened to them. As for the rest of the teams, we could not find you or Kiba. Obviously you are now here, but I do not know about the Inuzuka. There were also a few of your friends wounded, though only small or treatable wounds. The lesser teams had more casualties. All in all, it turned out better than expected if you think about all that could have gone wrong with four Akatsuki members there."

Gaara took a breath and continued with a new train of thought. "Naruto," he heard the blond acknowledge the call, "I have a feeling that these people will not just take your demon." There was a deathly silence. "I do not know what they will do if they do not need you yet. I am the one-tail host. Therefore, I will naturally be the first on their list. You are the nine-tail host. You are the last. What happens between then and now I do not know, but it will not be good. Prepare yourself as best you can. I do not think your mind can endure what is to come." Gaara knew of the blonde's cutting and already dangerously broken mind. To him, it was quite noticeable. As they say, birds of a feather flock together.

The last words echoed into the dark and were swallowed whole.

Naruto sat with the silence wrapped around him. He had never acknowledged the feeling before, but he knew exactly what Gaara meant. Something was wrong with what was happening. He knew something was up when Itachi suggested he join them. Those strange words that the older Uchiha used had caused a thought that was never fully recognized. It could mean only bad things for the jinchuuriki.

The Konoha shinobi was engulfed in even more despair. He was caught. Gaara was caught. There was no way out of their dark prison. Gaara would die. Who knows what unspeakable things would happen to himself. Kami knows where Akatsuki took them.

For the first time in many, many years, Naruto allowed himself to cry.

Gaara heard the quiet, muffled sobs and bowed his head. He understood his companion's grief—it was his own as well.

A lone, silver dot appeared in the darkness. It made an agonizingly slow descent…

And fell into the abyss.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Temari, and Kankuro were gathered in a large, circular room. The atmosphere was tense with an undertone of fear. Both parties knew what was to come and what had to be done.

"We need to mobilize. Soon." It was a statement. No one needed to say it, but it was there and recognized.

All four nodded.

"We meet in two days. Our spies have reported that they were recently relocated to a series of caves in Earth country. It is close to the border of Earth and Bird. Bring as many as you can spare. Be prepared for the worst."

With those parting words, the four left.

In two days, they would be ready. In two days, they would be hoping for the best, but already fearing the worst. In two days…everything would crumble.

(A/N:)

All I have to say is sorry for the long wait. I was swamped with schoolwork and now I have some free time. Don't expect really frequent updates. I'm currently looking for a job, so be prepared for a wait. However, feel lucky, my faithful and new(?) fans. For this will probably be the only story that will be getting updates until I get out of my rut with the others.

Until next time, my cheeky monkeys.