No Akatsuki.

Couldn't see them.

Couldn't find them.

Couldn't sense them.

Irritating.

I appeared in front of the Gedō Mazō.

Sick, sick thing.

Tens of thousands locked inside.

Many of them, similar, now that I was actually looking at it.

The same. Not similar. Connected, each Heart and Soul bound to the others, reflected a hundred thousand times.

All but two. One Heart and Soul, the pair that was Shukaku, the Chakra present along with it.

And another pair, another Heart and Soul, sleeping, unconscious, dead-but-not-dead.

It was old.

And evil.

Disgusting.

"Shukaku." Fear. Caution. But he heard me, and his Heart responded.

As did the hundred thousand other Hearts. "I was not talking to you, other beings sealed in this statue."

Fear. In all of them.

"Shukaku." I addressed, my words reaching Shukaku's Heart and Shukaku's Heart alone. "I'm going to release you."

The statue burst into smoke.

Did Nagato honestly think that would stop me?

A moment later, I was in front of the statue again- though this time, there was nobody else around. Still no Nagato, no Konan, nobody...

Not a single person.

"Do me a favour and hide when I do, alright?" Anticipation.

If I can't fuck up Nagato, I can fuck up his plan. His stupid, stupid, stupid plan.

...

In hindsight, it might have actually been a good thing that Nagato had summoned the statue away. Releasing the bloodthirsty Ichibi in the middle of Amegakure would have certainly seen a lot of collateral damage.

It was rather surprising how little I found myself caring about that.

I need to calm down.

A tendril extended out of me, my half-ethereal wispy form briefly becoming partially solid.

Far, far away, back in Amegakure, my Keyblade vanished.

And, here, in my wisp's forming hand, it re-appeared.

I approached.

Hmm.

Should I release the other Hearts and Souls inside, too?

I wasn't sure. The Ichibi could form a Body from his Chakra, but all the other Hearts and Souls inside... If I released them, they wouldn't have any Body to move into.

Nor did they have the Chakra to sustain themselves.

I pointed my Keyblade at the Gedō Mazō.

Connection.

I twisted-

The Gedō Mazō's mouth shot open, burning red Chakra forcing its way out, rushing away from the statue.

The Ichibi -Shukaku- began to take a solid form, sand seemingly bursting into existence from thin air as more and more Chakra shot out, quickly beginning to take shape.

Less than ten seconds later, the Gedō Mazō's eye closed, it's mouth shutting as the last of the Chakra shot out, Shukaku almost entirely fully formed.

I let the Keyblade vanish, and re-summoned it to my main body, once again increasing the strain on the barrier meant to contain me.

Shukaku howled, little red and blue spots of Chakra gathering in front of his mouth, rapidly coalescing into a single massive, purple ball.

Idly, I floated out of the way, moving over to the side of the massive chamber in which the Gedō Mazō was contained.

The Bijuudama, already nearly the size of Shukaku's head, suddenly condensed, collapsing into a single, almost black ball.

Shukaku's eyes narrowed.

Finally, he leaned forward, consuming the Bijuudama before spinning around, facing the statue.

"FUUUCK YOU!" He screamed, firing the highly concentrated mass of chakra at the statue.

With an utterly blinding flash of light, the Bijuudama detonated.

When I could actually see something beyond the bright ass white, the first thing I saw was the massive trail of destruction left behind by Shukaku's Bijuudama.

Oh.

We'd been inside of a mountain.

Had been inside of mountain.

The mountain wasn't there anymore.

The Gedō Mazō also wasn't there anymore. It was in the air, slowly descending to the ground far, far away.

Still intact.

Hmm.

Oh well.

Shukaku's head turned slightly, his eyes finding my hovering form.

A moment later, he looked forwards. "Thanks. For releasing me."

I blinked.

"You're welcome."

He nodded, taking off in the direction of the Land of Wind, heading back towards the desert.

"And do try to not be found, would you?" I'd hate to have to release him again.

That would simply be unfortunate.

Impressive.

The Gedō Mazō is completely unharmed.

As are, I couldn't help but note, the Hearts and Souls inside of it.

Hmm.

Useless thing.

It won't help me find Nagato.

Where are you hiding, Nagato?

Where are the rest of the Akatsuki hiding, too.

Things would be so much simpler if I just knew where they were.

But I didn't.

I frowned.

Have to find them. Have to stop them. Have to stop them from killing any more people.

Have to make sure that Obito and Nagato fail.

The other members of the Akatsuki... were not nearly as capable as those two. Those two were the major threat.

Those two were the ones who could actually do what needed to be done in order to complete the Akatsuki's goals. Nagato's goals. Obito's Goals.

It wouldn't be easy. It never was.

I turned towards Konoha.

It'd be easier if I wasn't doing it alone.

And I should probably stop them from worrying, too. I had left rather... suddenly, after all.

I spared one last glance towards Shukaku, and vanished into a Corridor of Darkness.

"Gaara's dead." Was the first thing I said when I got back.

"What?" Was the first thing Shikaku asked me.

"Gaara had the Ichibi extracted from him. The process killed him." I completely stilled.

Gaara is dead. Shukaku is free.

"And I have some information you need to know." Because they needed to know what it was that they were up against.

"The leader of the Akatsuki is named Nagato. He has the Rinnegan."

Silence rang out through the room.

Hiruzen put his pipe down. "You're serious."

"Deadly." Because Gaara is dead dead dead and it stopped being funny. "He is very, very powerful, surpassing a Kage-level ninja at the absolute minimum."

Hiruzen straightened up. "Tell me everything."