A small amount of sand crept up to Gaara's face, and pushed Naruto's hand away. "Yes."

Gaara stepped further into the room. Temari and Kankuro followed after him, briefly looking at Naruto.

"You died, but here you are?" Naruto followed after him, circling him and looking up and down his body. He reached out, and poked at Gaara again- except it was blocked by a small mass of sand. "What was being dead like?"

Gaara's head tipped forwards and sideways, slightly. "I believe I had a conversation with my mother. It was pleasant." A small, but fond smile crossed his face. "I also believe I had a conversation with my father." The smile vanished. "It wasn't pleasant."

"Huh." Naruto bit his tongue. "I'd like to meet my dad. Think I'll hold for a few decades, though."

"Please do." Gaara glanced at him. "Dying is unpleasant. Personal experience."

"Was that a joke?" Naruto asked. "Did you just make a joke?"

The sound of metal scraping against metal rang throughout the room. Everybody's eyes darted to the source.

Sasuke stood straight, his blade three inches out of it scabbard. Three fingers laid against its side, glowing with Chakra. "Drich. Need your attention ASAP."

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Drich told us Gaara was dead." Sasuke said, staring straight at Gaara. "So, how are you here?"

"Did you want something, Sas..."

WHY CAN I SENSE GAARA'S HEART?!

Gaara's dead. Gaara is dead. I felt his Heart and Soul pass on-

Chiyo.

Chiyo's resurrection jutsu.

Wasn't that... a Naruto-inspired thing? Or a Sakura-inspired thing?

How the fuck did I not notice her doing that?

I should have felt it.

I would have felt it, right?

"Why -" I began. "- can I feel Gaara's soul?"

"So, it is Gaara?" Sasuke asked.

If I had a tongue, I would have clicked it. As it was, I split my attention in two, one half on dealing with the Juubi, and the other on the piece of Myself I had imbued into Sasuke's sword.

Smoke began to gather around Sasuke's sword as I gathered Darkness and consumed it. I didn't need a lot, just enough to build myself a body.

A wisp will do just fine.

Gather, condense, form the eyes- Oh, that's weird. Double-vision.

I haven't done this so far apart- well, I have, but I wasn't doing two things at the same time like this before. Bit difficult, but I'll deal with it.

Stab here, flick a piece off.

There. Wisp-body.

And yes, that's Gaara.

And Onoki. And A. And B. And Han. And Mei.

Slice there, remove a tendril.

The Kage Summit?

Fuck it; that works.

"Without a doubt." My wisp floated around Gaara. "Which is strange, because I distinctly recall having sensed your soul move on to the Pure Land. How, exactly, did you return to life, and how did you do it without me noticing?"

Throw some fire at it for fun.

"I did nothing." Gaara said as he took his seat. "It was Elder Chiyo who resurrected me."

"Chiyo." Hiruzen nodded. "Ah. The One's Own Life Jutsu?"

"Yes." Gaara raised an eyebrow. "You know of it?"

Ice shards to annoy it.

"Tsunade once informed about it." Hiruzen explained. "She claimed that it utilized the life force of the user to heal the target. A dangerous, but potent, jutsu."

Gaara nodded. "Indeed."

"When did this happen?" I asked.

Teleport. Dodge. Dodge. Deflect that Bijuudama.

"Five days ago." Gaara answered.

Naruto frowned. "You were dead for two weeks?"

Well, that explains why I didn't sense it. He was revived when I was busy fighting the Juubi.

Spears of Darkness, pierce, hold it still.

"Yes." Gaara nodded. "Elder Chiyo revived me during my funeral. It was a confusing affair."

"Hold on." Naruto held his hand up. "You died. You were dead for two weeks. You had a funeral. You were resurrected during your own funeral."

That's... something.

Fuck off, Juubi. Your roars aren't going to change anything.

Not sure what that 'something' is, but I'll figure it out later.

"Yes." Gaara looked to Naruto, briefly considering him. "However, I believe we are meant to be having a meeting. A Summit, specifically."

"Ah." His name is... Mifune, right? Mifune cleared his throat. "Yes. All five Kage of the five great Shinobi villages are present, and as such, the Kage Summit may begin."

Ooh, lightning. That'll work. Like it worked the last eight times.

"Naruto." Hiruzen said.

Naruto looked at Gaara. "We'll talk later." He said, before zipping over to Hiruzen's side, eyes back to his normal shade of blue. I myself floated backwards, away from the table, hovering halfway between the Hokage and the Kazekage seats.

"The topic -" Mifune continued, heedless. "- is the Akatsuki."

It doesn't.

Oh goody.

"Let this summit begin." Mifune leaned back, straightening as he did.

"Thank you, Mifune-dono." Hiruzen's head tipped in acknowledgement. "I trust that you are all aware of the Akatsuki, yes?"

Here, have some lightning in return.

A round of agreements from the table answered him.

"Good." Hiruzen nodded. "With only the exception of Kirigakure, all of our villages have had their Jinchuuriki targeted for capture and death by the Akatsuki. Further, the Akatsuki has also targeting Bijuu and Jinchuuriki under the aegis of the five great villages. Thus far, the Ichibi, the Sanbi, and the Yonbi have been captured by the Akatsuki."

And half the Kyuubi, but there's no real point to mentioning that.

Suffer, fucker.

"Suffice to say; -" Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke. "- the Akatsuki are rapidly becoming a problem for all of us."

"And you want them dealt with?" Onoki asked.

"Indeed." Hiruzen confirmed. "We killed two of them not too long ago. The remainder, however, will be more difficult. All are powerful Shinobi, and all are capable of fast movement throughout the countries. Hunting them down will not prove an easy task. In order to do so, we would need to be able to operate within the borders of other countries."

Slice, stab, bash, bash.

"That is a lot to ask." A said. "Who's to say that any village wouldn't use that access in order to plant traps, or prepare invasions?"

"Indeed." Hiruzen glanced at A. "Who could trust the other villagers, with all the bad blood between us? Especially after all the events that took place in the last twelve years."

A's eyes narrowed in a glare.

Stop trying to burrow. We've been through this, before.

Hiruzen stared straight back, unblinking. "Still, if free movement is untenable, then there are other options."