Hi, I hope you guys are enjoying the story. I don't really know how to feel about this chapter...I'm not feelin' this one. Maybe it's the way I lead with Gaara? I dunno. In any case enjoy, review and stay awesome.

Gaara's POV

"We should make a left here," Kankuro said, looking at his map. "That'll lead us to Konohagakure's Village Gate."

"Good. We've been traveling all night on this godforsaken sand." Temari said. She looked at Gaara as if she'd made a mistake, "Oh, not that your sand isn't good or anything. I mean, it's great! The sand just gets in my eyes and my hair and my-"

"That's enough." Gaara said with the same emotionless expression. "No need to explain yourself."

Kankuro laughed and which only caused Temari to slap him on the back of the head.

They had been traveling all night since Gaara had run into them on his way back to Sand. Kankuro and Temari had set out with a search party to find him. Ironically it was Gaara who had found them. He had convinced his siblings to follow him to the Leaf while the rest of the search party went back to give the Sand updates on their Kazekage's status. He hoped the ninja would understand. He needed to speak with the Leaf Village about everything, especially the growing threat the Akatsuki posed. Not only that but Naruto needed to be warned. The other jinchuuriki needed to be warned, wherever they were.

"What are you gonna do when we get there, Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"I need to speak with the Hokage." He answered.

"I thought we already got that done at the Summit?"

"No, I need to speak to her about what happened. What actions need to be taken to protect us from the Akatsuki."

"Oh...yeah...I guess that's still a problem. A shame, we could really use the power of the jinchuuriki on the front lines." Temari said.

"It's better we stay safe and far away from the Akatsuki's forces." Gaara said. He felt like that itself was wrong. He felt like his father and the elder's of Sunagakure. Like he was locking himself and the jinchuuriki away because of what they were and what was inside them. That itself was wrong to do.

"Whatever you say...I guess the Kage's will decide that when the war starts." Kankuro said.

"Any day now," Gaara mumbled.

A sudden scream rang through the lush forest they were walking through. Gaara froze, the scream wasn't very close but it wasn't too far either. It must've been a girl to say the least but it was impossible to tell where she was. There were no more screams.

"Hey!" A familiar voice shouted. Gaara immediately recognized it as Naruto's.

"He's here." Gaara said.

"Which makes our job a little bit easier." Kankuro commented.

"Bee!? Roshi!? Yugito!" Naruto yelled again. Gaara looked around to see if he could spot the rambunctious boy. He saw something out of the corner of his eye. A blur of orange and yellow. Undoubtedly Naruto.

Gaara moved after giving a quick nod to his siblings. They ran through the forest as fast as they could after Naruto. Kankuro and Temari screamed his name but he didn't turn around. Instead he pushed forward. Gaara popped the lid off of the gourd on his back and a stream of sand poured out. The sand flew past Gaara and collected in a solid cloud that Gaara hopped onto. He created two more for Temari and Kankuro and willed them all to chase Naruto. They moved through the forest a lot faster than on foot. They flew past thin and thick tree trunks, bushes and thorns, green leaves and green blades of grass. Everything was a constant stream of green and brown with the occasional out of place color.

They were eventually flying beside Naruto who turned his head to see his old friends. His face was a mixture of shock and joy.

"Gaara! And you brought the whole family!" Naruto smiled.

"Hi," Temari greeted. Kankuro waved.

"You wouldn't happen to know who that scream came from right?" Naruto asked.

"Why? Are they people you know?" Gaara questioned.

"Yeah, they're jinchuuriki, just like us." Naruto answered hastily, as if the very idea of meeting other jinchuuriki was thrilling. Gaara had known there were others like him but he had never bothered to care. It just used to be him back then when he was a child. Him and him alone in this cruel world. But he had gotten over it with the help of Naruto and his friends.

"It sounds like someone's attacking them." Temari commented.

"No duh," Naruto countered, giving an annoyed look to Temari, whose mouth was hung open in anger. "I just hope it's just the ANBU or somethin' and not the Akatsuki."

Gaara first wondered why in the world the ANBU would be chasing Naruto, but the mention of Akatsuki eliminated that thought from his mind and sent shivers down his spine.

The Akatsuki had captured him once, a little after he had become Kazekage. They had attempted to extract the One-Tail from Gaara which would've killed him if Naruto hadn't rescued him in time and stopped the extraction. Although they managed to steal half of the bijuu's power, they didn't get all of it. They had come back a second time a few days ago for another capture attempt which failed thanks to Gaara's quick thinking.

The Akatsuki were dangerous to not only him as a jinchuuriki but a threat to all mankind now that they were declaring war.

"Listen, Naruto, if it's the Akatsuki we're dealing with we can't be brash and rush into battle like you always do, we have to think this through and form a strategic battle plan." Gaara warned. Naruto scoffed and shook his head in disapproval.

"I'm not a little kid anymore! I can take care of myself!" Naruto shouted back as he sped up, jumping on whatever he could find to propel himself forward.

Gaara looked back at his siblings who just stared ahead. Gaara hated the idea of letting him go on alone, not only because he was their only means of locating the other jinchuuriki but simply because of Naruto's attitude. But there was nothing Gaara could do but follow the boy silently.

From behind him, Gaara heard Kankuro sigh, "This is why I hate kids."

Bee's POV

"Yugito!?" Bee shouted, the water was deep and dark despite the sun shining brightly overhead, bathing the world in light. Bee could hardly see beneath which made the situation call for even more panic. Roshi was at his side, staring at the water lost in his thoughts.

"Screw this! I'm going in," Bee said before diving into the frigid waters. It stung his dark skin and stung his wounded calf even more. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind and focused on Yugito. He desperately looked around for the girl and failed to find her. Panic set in as he desperately swam through the water, trying to spot her honey-colored hair or her long ivory nails. Even patches of red-stained water. Come on, where are you? Where are you!?

Bee, you need to swim further down into the water, at the bottom of the lake. I sense Matatabi down there. Gyuki informed Bee, who immediately pushed himself furiously towards the bottom of the lake.

For a few seconds he saw nothing, but then a flash of white and a muffled scream caught his attention. He turned around to see Yugito fighting off a blue-skinned man with a large, wide sword. Yugito had her claws out and was trying to push herself away from her attacker but it was to no avail. He kept pulling on her leg and swinging his sword in her direction.

Bee sprouted a few octopus tails which helped him swim faster towards Yugito.

The man turned toward Bee, aware of his presence and swam away from Yugito as Bee prepared to strike. He quickly weaved hand signs and whispered something, smiling at the end. Bee immediately grabbed Yugito's hand and pulled her in close as the water around them churned violently in a spiral. They were tossed around viciously as the water rose into the air and carried all three of them into the sky. The man moved past them quickly, apparently unaffected by the water's whirlpool properties.

Bee hugged Yugito tightly as the last of his breath escaped him and he began to suck in water instead, his heartbeat sped to an unhealthy rate as he panicked and began to worry about drowning and how stupid it would be for him to die right now.

Oh god, oh god, Gyuki! Bee called out desperately. At the thought of Gyuki, an idea popped into his head.

Maybe he could escape the whirlpool and a watery grave.

He summoned up all the chakra he had and transformed. He tripled in size as his skin became oily and oddly colored. He grew two horns and a large hunched back with two large arms and eight tails sprouting from his backside.

Half of his body stuck out from the rotating whirlpool as he gravity began to push down on his oversized body, forcing him to fall a short distance and land in the lake. He hoped Roshi had fled to higher ground as the sheer impact of Gyuki's body caused the lake beneath him to rise and crash down onto the rock path below in a single wave.

Both Bee and Gyuki groaned in pain. Their backs hurt due to the fall and instead of the pain being one-sided, they now both felt it.

Give me a little warning will ya!? That was not fun! Gyuki said as the two sat, Bee in front of the oversized octopus bull, in their own little dimension.

Please, I saved you fool, so don't be cruel fool ya fool!~ Bee rapped in response. Gyuki flicked his finger into the back of Bee's head, which hurt a lot more than it would've if a human was doing it.

Anyway, I think we still have to worry about that guy attacking us. Gyuki reminded Bee.

Bee nodded and went back to the real world. He looked down at his chest to see Yugito sprawled on him. Her hair wet and plastered on Bee's skin. She looked even worse than when she had appeared suddenly back in Konoha's forests.

Bee carefully picked her up and laid her down on the stone path nearby. He then looked around to find that weird blue-skinned guy he had seen back in the water.

"Bee!" A voice Bee recognized as Roshi's shouted. "Bee, you can't fight like that! You'll destroy the area around you and possibly injure people traveling through the forest!"

Bee only groaned in annoyance, fully aware that Roshi was correct. But still…he lifted himself out of the damp crater he had created as the waterfall splashed onto his back. He quickly surveyed the area, searching for their attacker.

He was nowhere in sight. Bee cut off the chakra flow between him and Gyuki, causing him to slowly shrink as his horns shrank and his skin became a light shade of cocoa. He then crawled out of the crater and stood nearby Yugito's quivering body.

She cursed and spat up water, "Goddamnit! I hate those stupid-" She coughed more and breathed deeply. "Those stupid Akatsuki!"

Bee froze, "The Akatsuki!?"

Suddenly the blue-skinned man with the dark robe on his body seemed so much more threatening.

Yugito looked up at his face and her eyes went wide. Bee realized all too late that she was looking behind him and not at him.

Han's POV

Everything was silent. Only the sounds of dripping water from the cave roof above could be heard. Han's surroundings were dark and gloomy. The cave wall behind him was sharp and rough, as was the cave floor. The metal cages trapping him in this small space were cold and rusted. Time had long since taken its toll. Still Han's strength was not enough to break or even bend it. Kokuo was no longer talking to him and his strength was seemingly connected to Kokuo's absence, as he was considerably weak. He figured it had to do with the cuffs on his wrists that suppressed his chakra and possibly the Five-Tails.

"You don't talk much do you?" The boy in the next cell over said. His voice was always small and frail, as if anything in the world could break it into a million pieces. Han knew he had already given up. By his laid-back posture and his disheartened face, covered in scratches and dried blood.

But Han hadn't given up. Not yet. He had thought it was over and maybe he had redeemed himself by saving Fu from the burning Takigakure but then he woke up here. He knew whoever was watching had saved Han from a doomed fate temporarily. Or maybe even Kokuo, after all if she hadn't been sealed inside of Han he would've still been under that burning village, crying for help as the fire seared his body and suffocated him in his prison of smoke, wood, and despair.

Either way he had to get out of here and reunite with Fu. It was the only thing keeping him going at this point.

"You know, it's your turn next. After they're done with Yagura it's your turn. Three, Five, and Six." The boy said, interrupting Han's thoughts yet again.

"This is all my fault. I never should've led them out of Kirigakure...I should've just stayed or took a boat. But no, I had to be an idiot! I had to destroy their chances of living in this cruel, hateful world! Hotaru did not deserve this! She was innocent…and I...I killed her. Her blood and Yagura's blood are on my hands. Good thing I won't have to live with it much longer, right?" He rambled.

Han shook his head, ever since waking up he had listened to this boy's self-degrading comments. His regret, his guilt, his anger, everything poured out of him mouth in an endless stream.. Yet he didn't bother moving from his fetal position. He curled up, hugging his legs and staring without seeing. It was pitiful. And no matter how much Han tried he couldn't ignore him this time.

"Will you just stop? You keep trying to punish yourself and complain about this yet you won't do anything about it. This world is unfair, especially for us jinchuuriki. Life decided to make things hard just because of what's living inside us." Han said. The boy's head lifted up to look into Han's eyes, obviously surprised Han was even talking.

"You're a disgrace. You have failed your friends and yourself just by sitting there and doing nothing. If you really felt sorry then you would get up and find a way to get those cuffs off your hands. Your friends aren't dead yet. If you're lucky and quick enough, maybe you can save them and yourself too."

The boy did not move. He only stared at Han for a few seconds longer before shifting his position, getting to his feet with a considerable amount of struggle and looked at Han. His blue robe's top half was shredded leaving parts of his chest exposed. His legs quivered and even he himself wobbled ever so slightly.

Han looked up and the boy's expression did not change.

"I...you're right. I don't know if we'll be able to get out of here alive but we might as well try right?" The boy said, his voice carrying an annoyed tone.

Han smiled and lifted up his hands, rattling the chains connecting his stone cuffs.

The boy smiled back, "I believe I can take care of that."