Woo! Chapter 5! Didn't think i'd make it this far! Alright, Gaara got an assignment from Madara & this chapter marks the end of the intro phase. Now the disruption of meeting certain people.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Pein would be the main character. But the story would be like Death Note. I don't own that either. Pein is god.

Future comrades

It was late. The sand siblings had made a lot of ground in two days, they were now past the border between Wind & Fire country.

Gaara looked at the mules pulling the caravan. They were exhausted. Gaara stopped.

"That's enough." he said, "We'll rest for the night & continue in the morning."

The driver nodded & parked the caravan. He then untied the mules from the caravan & led them to a nearby watering hole. Gaara turned to Kankuro.

"Go watch over them." he ordered, to which Kankuro nodded and disappeared.

Temari was a little off from the caravan, building a fire. Gaara walked over to her & sat with his back against a tree, watching the small fire.

After a while, the fire was blazing & Temari brought out a large flask of soup from her satchel, poured it into a small pot and heated it over the fire.

Gaara accepted his share of soup wordlessly, draining it in several small gulps. When he finished, he place the bowl down beside them. He could feel Temari's eyes on him, but he didn't do anything about it. A few minutes later Kankuro returned & Gaara felt his sisters eyes leave him.

"Man I'm beat- thanks" he said, taking his bowl of soup from Temari, "So, Gaara, how's the demon?"

Ever since Kankuro found out about his brother possessing the Shukaku, he became very interested in Gaara and the demon, often asking about him as if he & the Shukaku were friends.

"He's hungry." Gaara answered, as he always did. The only reason he put up with Kankuro's habit was that his older brother was respectful & otherwise gave him no reason to kill him.

"Heh-heh, same old Shukaku." Kankuro grinned. When he finished his soup, he settled down & was soon asleep.

As soon as that happened, Gaara felt Temari's eyes fall on him again, he turned to her.

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

Temari looked embarrassed that she was caught staring & diverted her eyes towards the fire. But now Gaara was staring at her.

"I," she mumbled, "I was just thinking about how we used to be. We did everything together & loved each other. But now it's different. I could always tell what you were thinking, but not anymore." when Gaara didn't reply, she looked up at him.

"I miss looking out for you. I miss spending all my time playing with you. What changed? Why are you so determined to be alone?"

Again, Gaara didn't answer, so she turned back towards the flames.

"He wants your blood."

Temari froze, "What?" she asked.

"He wants me to kill you. I knew that if I stayed it could be dangerous. He is… very influential."

Temari was shaking. Why was he telling her this?

"So I made a decision. I left."

"Why?" she asked.

"To prove my existence I must kill. But in killing everyone I will cease to exist, as there will be no-one to confirm my existence."

"To prove your- but you don't need to kill anyone to prove that. You do exist, I can confirm that!"

Gaara shook his head, "Your existence is weak. You are satisfied with just becoming a strong kunoichi, but in doing so, you sacrifice your own existence."

"But why do you have to kill?"

"Because the Shukaku demands it. In killing, not only do I prove my existence, but I also appease him. However, when he commanded me to kill you I had to make a decision. I realised that any choice I made would inevitably result in me being alone so I decided to leave."

Temari stared at Gaara, "So, you left to… protect me?"

"You are too weak for me to prove my existence by killing you. The Shukaku wanted me to do it so that I would be broken & easier to control. I love only myself." Gaara got up to his feet. "Go to sleep. We will rise early."

With that he left, fully aware that Temari was still watching him. He glanced back & saw tears pouring down her eyes.

* * * * *

Another two days had passed without much talk. Gaara was silent, as usual & Kankuro could sense that Temari didn't want to talk, so he settled with conversing with the caravan driver.

"So what sorts of places have you visited? It's not often that I leave Wind country."

The driver smiled nostalgically, "Oh I've been to many places over the years. I've visited most of the hidden shinobi villages. In fact, the only ones I haven't been to are Iwagakure & Kumogakure. These mules are strong, but they're afraid of heights & refuse to walk along their cliffy roads."

"What is it?" Temari asked. Kankuro and the driver stopped too when they realized Gaara wasn't walking.

"I'm going ahead." he said.

"What, why?!" Kankuro demanded.

Gaara didn't answer, instead he disappeared in whirl of sand.

He reappeared a couple of miles ahead of his siblings. Off to the horizon, he could see a lone figure walking towards him. Gaara walked up to meet the other person, who he knew probably wasn't expecting him, so he should be careful if he didn't want to get in a fight. He would not anger Madara-sensei by killing this person.

When they were closer together, Gaara could see that the other person was a teenager who appeared to be about thirteen years old. He had long black hair, which seemed to be tied back. He was wearing the uniform of an elite shinobi, with a white animal mask hanging by his side. His face was marked by two long lines which appeared to be stress creases, not befitting on someone so young. But the two details that made Gaara certain that this was the man he was looking for was the scored Konoha headband, and the red eyes.

When they were twenty-five yards apart, they stopped. The other man, clearly an Uchiha, was staring at the child in front of him.

"He isn't making the mistake of underestimating me."

"You're coming with me." Gaara stated.

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"My sensei demands it. Now come."

The Uchiha didn't move.

"I don't think so." he said, defiantly.

The cork of Gaara's gourd popped off, sand pouring from the hole.

"You will come if I have to break your limbs to do so. My sensei would be… disappointed, if I fail to take you."

The sand rushed towards the Uchiha, who didn't make a move to dodge it. The sand enveloped his legs.

"Sabaku Kyū!" Gaara called and the sand obeyed, caving in on the Uchiha's legs. But instead of crushing his legs, the Uchiha vanished in a puff of smoke.

From behind him, three shuriken were thrown, aimed at vital spots. Gaara didn't move a muscle as the sand shielded him from the attack. The Uchiha then ran around Gaara, throwing kunai with explosive tags attached. Each of them failed their job as the sand enveloped each one, quelling the explosions. The Uchiha then stood before Gaara.

"Your defence is impressive. You managed to block attacks that you couldn't even see." he said.

Gaara maintained his stoic expression.

"Are you ready to come now?" he asked, growing bored with the fight.

"No. I will not come with you. Prepare yourself." the Uchiha said, but Gaara didn't react.

"Tsukuyomi."

The world changed. Now the sky was filled with the light of a blood-red moon. Everything was white & black.

"This is just like my nightmares. What does this mean?" Gaara thought to himself. Not at all concerned that he was chained to a wall or that he was surrounded by hundreds of the Uchiha.

"Your mistake was making eye contact. Now you are trapped in my world, were I control time & space. A second in the real world is equivalent to three days here. Now you will-" the Uchiha was interrupted by Gaara's manic laughing.

"What is so funny?" the Uchiha asked, annoyed that he was interrupted.

"Heh heh heh. I know all about the Tsukuyomi. It traps the victim in their own mind, you also enter their mind so that you can torture them repeatedly, in what their consciousness interprets as a large amount of time passing, when, in fact, a very short amount of time has passed.

Your mistake was entering my mind. For in my mind, I am not alone."

As he said this, a giant shadow fell over the Uchiha, who spun around, only to be blasted back in a wave of sand onto the wall previously occupied by Gaara. The sand formed around the Uchiha's wrists & ankles, effectively trapping him on the wall. Gaara, who was released by the sand, stepped in front of the Uchiha, grinning maniacally.

The scene around them changed. instead of a large, empty space, houses were appearing & bodies grew from the ground, bloody & certainly dead.

"What is this?" the Uchiha demanded, struggling.

"I found out long ago that the Shukaku is… invasive." Gaara answered.

The Uchiha paled, "The Shukaku?"

Gaara's grin widened, "Yes. Now he has trapped you in your mind. You'll find yourself unable to stop the technique. The Shukaku is using his chakra to seal you in."

The Uchiha was gaping. His expression changed to desperation as someone appeared before him. A young boy who looked very similar to the Uchiha.

"Why Itachi? Why did you do it?" the young boy asked tears pouring down his eyes.

"No… Sasuke…" Itachi faced Gaara. "Stop this, I beg you. Don't make me go through this again."

Gaara ignored him.

From the distance, a figure appeared.

"Who is that? There was no-one there before." Itachi thought aloud, making Gaara chuckle.

"As I said, the Shukaku is very invasive. He knows exactly what to do to make you suffer, Uchiha Itachi."

The figure in the distance was an old man with bandages wrapped around his head & right eye. He also had a X shaped scar on his chin. He was clearly walking towards them, protruding a curved dagger from the folds of his robes, his eyes fixed on Sasuke.

"No… please- don't make me watch this."

"Will you come with me?"

"Yes!"

The world fell around them, returning to the way things were. Itachi collapsed on the ground from the technique. Gaara summoned his sand to envelope Itachi, leaving only his face visible. He then levitated the sand into the air & walked in the direction of Amegakure.

* * * * *

Three days passed before Itachi woke. They were walking along a shore, well, Gaara was walking.

"So your awake." Gaara noted.

"Where are we going?" Itachi asked, unable to turn his head due to the sand.

"We are going to Amegakure. My sensei requested that I deliver you to his subordinates there."

"And who is your sensei?"

Gaara glanced at Itachi.

"He is the last true Uchiha."

Itachi's eyes widened in shock.

"Madara." he growled, before speaking clearly, "There is no longer any need for you to restrain me. This is all a misunderstanding. I had not expected him to find me so quickly."

Gaara stopped & stared hard at Itachi.

"You know Madara-sensei?" he asked.

"Yes, I want to join his organization." Itachi replied.

Gaara thought it over. It was possible that Itachi was lying to him, intending to attack when he was released. But Gaara thought about what he saw in the Tsukuyomi. This Uchiha was broken. Gaara released him.

"You seek the same thing I do." Gaara told him.

"Is that so?" Itachi asked, getting to his feet.

Gaara nodded, "We may one day be comrades." he said.

"Maybe."

They set off. Itachi kept eying Gaara, probably thinking about his defeat by a genin.

"So you possess the Shukaku?" Itachi asked.

"Yes, & you possess the Mangekyo." Gaara countered.

"It seems that both of us have a lot of blood on our hands."

"Yes."

Itachi looked at Gaara.

"So what is it like?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Gaara was silent for a while before answering.

"The Shukaku has shown me the truth. He is an out of control demon, but he understands what life is really about."

"What is that?"

"My one goal in life is to prove my existence. I do so by killing others. Their blood appeases the Shukaku & makes me feel alive. Tell me, why did you kill your clan?"

"I killed them to test my power, or, as you put it, "to prove my existence."

"I see… so what you mean to say is that you were under orders to kill your clan."

Itachi looked shocked, "How could you know that?" he demanded.

"I love only myself & fight only for myself. Because of this I understand loneliness. Loneliness is this worlds worst kind of pain. It is that pain that I see in your eyes. And I also see regret. It is clear that you didn't want to kill your clan."

Gaara could tell that Itachi wasn't pleased by the fact that a genin could read him so easily. But he didn't react angrily, he seemed relieved.

"If you have already figured this much out then I can at least take comfort in the fact that there is someone I can be honest with. Comrades? I hope so." he said with a small smile.

Gaara looked at Itachi. What he hadn't told him is that he also saw determination in his eyes.

"Why?" Gaara thought, "You regret killing your clan, but you were under orders. Why would you obey these orders & then abandon your village? Unless… I see. You are still under your village's orders, aren't you?"

Gaara resolved to keep this matter to himself until he had more evidence, but he would definitely need to keep an eye on Itachi.

"Back there, in the Tsukuyomi, who was that boy?" Gaara asked.

Itachi's eyes dropped to the ground.

"That was my younger brother, Sasuke." he replied.

"You let him live." Not a question, a statement.

"Yes."

"Alright. I won't ask you why you did that. It doesn't concern me."

"It's alright-"

"What I mean is that I am not concerned by your actions. I don't care."

"… I see."

The rest of the journey passed in silence. They reached Amegakure on time. True to it's name, it was raining heavily.

"Where to now?" Itachi asked.

Gaara realized that Madara-sensei had never told him where to go once he got there. He looked around for a sign and found someone coming towards him, slightly obscured from the rain. As the man, judging by his size, came closer, Gaara managed to make out some details.

The man was very large, sporting a black cloak with red clouds. He had tall dark blue hair & a scored Kiri headband, but what was most interesting was his blue face with markings on it, giving him a shark-like appearance, though Gaara seriously doubted he was part shark.

"Uchiha Itachi?" the man asked.

"Hn." Itachi replied, regaining his stoic stance.

"Hoshigaki Kisame. I am to escort you to leader-sama."

Gaara turned to leave when Kisame put his hand on his shoulder.

"Wait. Leader-sama wishes to see you as well." said Kisame.

Gaara turned back but didn't reply. He & Itachi followed Kisame to the entrance of one of the taller buildings. The inside was well furnished. The building clearly was important to the owner.

They walked forward to the staircase & Kisame looked up in displeasure.

"Alright, this is gonna take a while." Kisame said.

"Why don't we use a Shunshin to get up their faster?" Itachi asked.

"Simple. Leader-sama has forbidden all Shunshin no jutsu. He only alerts his high ranking subordinates of this. Anyone who doesn't know this shouldn't be up there so they will be treated as enemy shinobi if they do."

Gaara decided he didn't want to "take a while" so he used his sand to pick the three of them up & they floated up the stairs.

"Heh. That's pretty handy." Kisame said, "Sand Express."

In a third of the time it would have taken them, they had reached the top floor. Gaara gathered the sand back into his gourd as Kisame knocked on a door.

"Come in." came a female voice.

Kisame opened the door & entered. Gaara & Itachi waited in the hall.

After a moment, Kisame returned.

"You may enter, but word of warning- don't hit on her." he said, before jumping out of an open window.

Gaara watched as Kisame disappeared. He could tell that Kisame was a cold blooded killer. He wondered if they were common in this "organization". Turning away from the window, he & Itachi entered the room.

Gaara's eyes immediately fixed on the woman in front of him.

"Greetings Itachi-san, Gaara-san." she said, "I am the angel of Akatsuki, Konan."