Just to let you guys know, I skipped ahead to morning time since I wrapped up a few loose ends in the last chapter. It's pretty obvious what happens to some of the characters but this chapter will give some verification.(Although I just realized I forgot Gaara, ughhhhh!) I also managed to get some good time on my uploads. Working on chapter 25 for you guys right now! Anyway hope you enjoy!

Fu's POV

Fu walked down the road in silence. A cold gust of wind blew across her face but it didn't even faze her. Nothing did. She just felt like a rotting carcass. Maybe her legs worked but her mind was just a blank canvas and her entire body was numb. Her hair and skin was a pattern of soot, scars, and dried blood. She limped slightly due to her injured leg. Maybe the Snake Man and his ninja would catch up to her. Maybe they wouldn't.

She didn't care. Not anymore. She was tired of running, yet her legs kept going. No matter how hungry she got, no matter how thirsty, no matter how weak. They moved on their own.

She had been walking since night had fallen. Since Takigakure had been destroyed.

Mom...Han...She thought. As sob escaped from her mouth and she fell to her knees. She had failed them. She had failed both of them. Memories, pictures she didn't want to remember. They invaded her mind and made her scream and scream and scream.

Kill her!

Fu! Run!

It's all coming down! Everything! Run! Run!

"No, come back, Han. Come back..." She whispered. She wailed again this time curling up into a ball.

But there was no one to hear her screams anymore.

Utakata's POV

"Oh my god. Oh my god. No, no, no." Hotaru whispered. Her voice was unsteady and full of dread. Utakata watched in horror as the Masked Man grabbed Hotaru by the wrist.

"Utakata! Yagura! Help me! I don't want to dieeee." She pleaded. She stared at the unconscious Yagura and then at Utakata. Her eyes were full of fear and desperation.

She kicked and flailed, trying to escape the man's iron grip. It was to no avail. Instead the man raised his palm and brought it down across Hotaru's cheek. She cried out in pain as tears began to leak down her face.

"Hotaru! Let go of her you bastard! I said let go!" Utakata screamed. His voice was the only weapon he had. The chains around his wrist and legs suppressed his chakra and destroyed the possibility of free movement. He was trapped behind bars in his damp, gloomy cell.

The Masked Man stared at Utakata. He then chuckled, "Is this woman someone you care about? Someone you love?"

"I said leave her alone!"

"Sometimes the world isn't fair, Utakata. Sometimes the ones you love die. Do you understand that?"

"Oh god...oh god!" Hotaru began to panic at once the idea of death was proposed.

"Stop! Please! It's me you want, right!?" Utakata said.

The Masked Man stared at Utakata from the one hole in his mask. "Zetsu...are you hungry?"

The white half of Zetsu smiled, "Very! I haven't eaten in a while."

The black half chuckled, "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP!" Hotaru was screaming and wailing and kicking and crying. Tears flowed down Utakata's cheeks. No, no, please, whatever God is watching up there, don't let this happen. Please.

"Having fun?"

The voice's owner came from a hooded man in the doorway. He had a red cloak draped around his body and round glasses. In the dim light Utakata couldn't see well but his face was oddly pale and scaled. He could even see a giant white snake curled around a burly man with short spiky brown hair.

His appearance was eerie and frightening. Everything about him seemed shady. As if he always knew something you didn't.

"Kabuto? I supposed you have the Five-Tails in your grasp." The Masked Man said.

"We can talk about this later. Right now I'd much rather like to know what you're doing."

"It's none of your business."

"You're quite the funny one. We're partners right Madara?" He laughed and lifted up his hands in an innocent gesture. But the name Madara had already made Utakata's heart skip several beats. His grandmother had told stories of the Uchiha who had clashed with the First Hokage. He had incredible power and powerful eyes who undoubtedly plotted to allow the Uchiha to rise to power. If this was the man Utakata had been captured to see, then escape was hopeless. All they could do was pray that they would have a streak of luck.

Madara was obviously not happy. Hotaru was now silent but shivering slightly. He looked down at her and then back at Kabuto, "She was traveling with Six-Tails and Three-Tails. Zetsu brought her to me for judgment and I am delivering that judgment."

"By killing and innocent girl? Now how is that fair judgment?"

"I didn't know you were one to pity, Kabuto." White Zetsu sneered. Kabuto ignored the monster.

"She is of no use to me. She has no special skills. None at all. She's worthless. Shinobi like her do not deserve to live in my endless dream." Madara said.

"Maybe she is of no use to you, but maybe I could use an assistant in my...experiments."

Hotaru flinched at the last word.

"Fine. Take her. Do whatever you want with her." Madara said, he threw Hotaru across the room and she slammed into the wall next to Kabuto, who remained unfazed. The snake behind Kabuto stretched its long, scaly body and deposited the man in the cell next to Utakata. It returned to its owner's side.

"Good luck extracting the bijuu. I'm sure they will be much more compliant." Kabuto exited the room, carrying an unmoving Hotaru.

Utakata then pushed himself against the wall and tried to prevent himself from crying.

It was over. There was no chance of escape this time. They had gotten caught and that was it. There were no second chances. Hotaru would become a tool, repeatedly used for experimentation until her body could take no more and finally shut down. Yagura and Utakata would die once the bijuu were extracted from their bodies. He knew that much. One you became a jinchuuriki your soul was linked to the tailed beast that resided with in you. Your body and mind relied on the bijuu and vice versa. Although the bijuu could live without a host, the jinchuuriki would die.

Which meant these precious moments, would be the last in Utakata's life.

Yugito's POV

"Ugh, my pack had all my food and water and I left it behind back there! I'm such an idiot!" The blonde boy groaned. Yugito stared at him, annoyed by his tone and attitude. All he had done since Yugito had woken up from her endless nightmare was whine and whine and whine. Yugito didn't bother to voice her opinions. She didn't want to waste her breath on that one.

Yugito had remained silent from the time she had woken up to the present. She couldn't use her voice. She felt like she might scream if she did. Everything that had happened came back to her. Matatabi quick thinking, which was executed in reverse summoning jutsu saved her from certain death at the hands of Hidan and Kakuzu, members of the infamous group the Akatsuki. She knew they were after the jinchuuriki and she thought she could easily handle anything they threw at her.

She was wrong. And it almost cost her her life. For not the first time, Yugito was thankful for Matatabi's existence.

"Hey...uh, Yugito…" Bee was facing her, his mouth drawn in a line. "Are you okay?"

He had asked that question since she had woken up. But Yugito didn't care much, she was more excited to see him after such a long time. She could see Bee in her mind now. The last time she had seen him? During her childhood, before she had entered the Third Raikage's jinchuuriki training program. The final goodbye between the two had been one of her most sacred memories and now they were face to face, Yugito had to fight back the impulse to hug him to death. He was the only one who had acknowledged her as something other than a monster. He had said it right to her face. She was a human. A human being, not a weapon or a threat. But she could feel that massive amount of power dwelling within him. She didn't know when or how it happened, but Bee was just like her. Whether he wanted to be or not.

Yugito nodded in response. Bee smiled and turned back to the two other jinchuuriki that had settled in this damp cave.

"Naruto, we can't sit here complaining. We need to go out and look for food. And find a better hiding place." Roshi said to Naruto, who frowned at him.

"Yugito needs medicine," Bee said.

"Both of you need some medicine. Besides we can't either of you get sick." Naruto mentioned, staring at Bee's wounded leg.

"And then we need to worry about food, water, and more of the Leaf Ninja coming after us." Roshi added. "They won't give up. Especially not now. Not when war and utter chaos is right around the corner."

"So? I have my own reasons for being out here and I'm not gonna let no one stop me." Naruto said.

"Are you always this stupid?" Yugito blurted out by mistake. She might've been shaken up but she couldn't just ignore Naruto's idiotic statements.

"She speaks! I was worried you got your tongue cut out or somethin'." Naruto flashed a mocking grin at Yugito.

"You're a funny one aren't you?" Yugito smiled and then wiped it off her face. "I can't believe of all the ninja in the Hidden Leaf they chose you to be the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki."

Naruto's grin disappeared, replaced by a furious glare. His fists clenched and Yugito knew she must've plucked the wrong string.

"Why don't you just shut up, huh? No one asked you to say anything! Especially to me! You don't even know me. You don't know my past. You don't know what I've been through!" Naruto's eyes began to water and he calmed himself after a long silence. He got to his feet and walked outside in the morning sun.

"Wait, Naruto-" Roshi got to his feet and grabbed Naruto's shoulder but he pushed it off.

"I'm gonna take a walk. Find some food or somethin'." Naruto's loud voice had was now smaller and fragile. Yugito felt a pang of guilt and stared at the cave wall to avoid looking at Naruto.

"Don't wander off to far...and don't take too long either. I'm trying to gather all the jinchuuriki together not push them apart." Roshi said, stealing a quick glance at Yugito.

Naruto quickly ran up the rock wall and disappeared from view.

"Sorry," Yugito mumbled.

"He'll come around. I guess...it's not like I know him too well either." Bee assured her.

"You're not rapping anymore?" Yugito asked, utterly shocked. He was infatuated with Enka Rap and never said a sentence without making some awful rhyme.

"I don't think the situation really calls for my impressive rapping ability." Bee said.

"You got that right," Yugito laughed but stopped when her stomach growled quite loudly, reminding her how hungry she was again. Her mouth was dry and her lips were cracked.

She looked outside the cave entrance and saw the big pool of water that the waterfall fell into. She got to her feet, slowly, wincing at her burning thigh. She let out a sigh as she limped toward the lake. Bee immediately got to his feet and jogged to her side to help her.

"No, I'm fine Bee. Besides your leg must hurt right?" Yugito said.

"Yeah...wait, no. I mean...yeah but I can still help you." Bee stammered.

"Just let her go on her own," Roshi intervened. "She doesn't need a bodyguard twenty-four seven."

"Yeah...yeah, I'm just...genuinely worried." Bee said sitting back down across from Roshi who smiled and chuckled.

"Sure...genuinely." He said which earned an annoyed sigh from Bee.

Yugito pushed herself forward and until she was at the edge of the little rock path that circled the waterfall cliff. She felt the urge to just strip down and immerse herself in the cool, soothing waters.

But obviously she couldn't. Not in front of Bee and Roshi of course.

She reached down and cupped some water into her hands. She drank it and immediately sighed happily. It had been a long, painful night and this was like heaven.

It could've been better but this was as good as it was going to get until she was fully healed.

She drank more of the water until her thirst was quenched.

"Never knew water could be so good." She whispered to the water as she reached down to splash some on her face.

"It's my favorite thing in the world." The water said back in an eerie tone.

Yugito immediately froze, shocked by the voice she had just heard. And then a hand shot out of the water and grabbed her arm. She screamed as she was pulled into the aquatic world below.