Nel here, this chapter is a little bit less action packed but still full of important details. It feels so good to be writing again. Hope you all enjoy!

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The first thing everyone did upon reaching town was check into the inn and take a long bath. Despite the fact that everyone felt gross, it was clear that Suigetsu was the happiest of anyone to get into a pool of water. When the group had arrived at the inn he hadn't even waited to find out where the rooms were, he had run straight for the bath house. The group could hear his cannon ball all the way back in the entry way. They had all taken some time to relax and replenish, but now they all sat around the table in Tsunade's room discussing.

"I still can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. I'm glad that for once we have the upper hand, and going to Naruto's location to set a trap for Madara is definitely the right decision, but I can't get rid of that gut feeling. For one, if this is Madara Uchiha, the same man that fought Hashirama Senju in the Valley of the End, how is he here. He would be so old, I can't imagine him still using the powers of his youth like he appears to be. I don't doubt Sasuke, but what if there is more to it." Tsunade put her hand to her chin in thought and Sai chimed in.

"I see where you are coming from my lady. It is possible that someone would just use his name to get us all worked up. Madara was a force to be feared. He was exceedingly powerful and it is hard to fathom a threat of that magnitude returning." Tsunade nodded.

"Even if it is not Madara, the person we face is equally as bad, if not worse. However, using that name could cause us to act emotionally, instead of rationally. We need to be careful. We need to make sure that we maintain our advantage. We must consider all possibilities."

"Did Madara have any disciples?" Everyone turned to look at Suigetsu. "I mean, think about it. People like this always have someone that they trust, that they take under their wing, brainwash, and convince to continue their work. Orochimaru had Kabuto, and if Sasuke wasn't such a complete asshole he probably would have been next. What makes Madara any different?" After a few moments of silence Shizune spoke.

"Suigetsu makes a good point. Why wouldn't Madara have passed on his legacy?"

"If that is the case..." Tsunade's brow furrowed and she frowned. "As I had feared we are dealing with someone who, while not necessarily stronger, is much more intellectual. Dangerously so. Someone with enough cunning to convince the world that a dead man lives and since no one has seen his face..."

"No one knows for sure, we are only going off what he has told us." Sai finished Tsunade's sentence. "We only know what he wants us to know." The group let out a collective sigh. Tsunade stood up, yawned and gave a big stretch.

"Let's all get a good night sleep, we will grab supplies first thing in the morning and set out. The hardest part of the journey is over, it should only take us another half day at a brisk pace to get to the agreed upon location. Once we are all together again we can form a plan to take this bastard down." The group all gave silent nods. They were tired. Besides the fact that everyone had been traveling nonstop for the past two weeks, the situation, even though they currently had the upper hand was intense. They were preparing to face Madara Uchiha himself, or someone even worse and they didn't have all the blanks filled in. That made the situation very dangerous, it meant that the chances of someone dying increased. This was family. Bickering and jokes aside they would die for each other. They all choose to be shinobi, they knew the potential costs and every person had been effected by the shinobi world. Sadly, most in a negative way. It was time for peace, it was time to put an end to the evil. They all knew that even if they could stop these people, more would come, but not for many lifetimes if they could help it. The Hidden Villages were more united than ever, once their common enemy had been brought down it would be the perfect time for peace. They were all part of the same world, unique and different, but the same. It was time to embrace that. It was time people started dying of old age again.

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It was close to one in the morning and Sai still hadn't gone to sleep. He stood by the window in his room, moonlight pouring through, bathing his bare chest in a pale light. It almost made him look like a ghost. If ghosts were made of solid muscle that is. He thrived in the night, lived in the night. As an Anbu he was the night. Yet he loved the day, the vibrant colors the sky turned when the sun would rise and set. The contrast of the blue sky and white clouds against green trees and flowered fields. That's one of the reasons he got into art in the first place. It helped him to understand. He was never very good with emotions, but the way he felt when he painted helped him to connect. In order to paint something, you have to understand it in a fundamental way. Naruto and Sasuke had been one of the first paintings he had ever done of people, because for once something emotional had really connected with him. Even though he didn't grasp it in its entirety he had understood in an inexpressible way. He was starting to understand that that was what true emotion was, something that books can never truly explain, and words can't express completely, but it is felt and understood. Sai was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on his door. He didn't bother putting on more clothes, he just walked over to the door and opened it without even looking to see who it was.

Suigetsu stepped into the room gently closing the door behind him. Sai had gone back to window and was leaning against the sill.

"What's on your mind Suigetsu?" Sai wore his signature smile. Suigetsu crossed the room and sat down on Sai's bed roll. It was clear that he hadn't slept yet either. His face was serious.

"Why did you bring me along?"

"Because Sasuke trusts you."

"Then tell me what you are keeping from the group. You're orchestrating something." Sai smirked a little bit. More than just Suigetsu's teeth were sharp.

"The day that Madara showed up and killed the elders, Sasuke used a genjutsu to talk to me. He told me to do nothing. He went willingly. His plan has been to lead Madara to Naruto and Killer B from the beginning. So, I passed him some messenger birds. He requested that I convince the Kage to go to the location as well, so here we are." Suigetsu sighed.

"He never was a man of many words."

"Actions speak louder, don't you think?"Suigetsu shrugged. Sai made his way over from the window sill and sat down beside Suigetsu on the bed roll. "I realize it seems foolish to go running off on such a dangerous mission with so few details but I trust Sasuke and I also think he saved a lot of lives the day he left with Madara, or whoever our masked villain is. That whole situation seemed to only last for seconds, but he was able to communicate much to me through genjutsu. I don't doubt that he and Madara spoke in a similar fashion, perhaps for a very long time." Suigetsu nodded at Sai's words.

"I agree with you Sai and I trust Sasuke as well. I would have done the same thing in your shoes, but it doesn't change that fact that I don't like flying blind."

"None of us do, but we will make it work. We are all kind of going with our gut right now, there is never as much time for planning as we would like, especially once things start happening, it always seems to happen too fast. So, we trust each other and our instincts." Sai and Suigetsu both laid back onto the floor. Content with each other's company and a few moments of silence. They continued to talk for a while, sharing a little bit about their pasts and speculating at who the masked man could be if not Madara. They were bonding and it was nice, but before they knew it their eyelids had grown heavy and not to long after that they had both drifted off to sleep.

xxx

Sasuke and Madara had been traveling in the boat for about two days and had barely said anything to one another. When Kisame and Zetsu suddenly popped out of the water it about scared Sasuke to death.

"It's about time." Madara's words were filled with annoyance. "What were you able to find out?"

"After what happened at the Hidden Leaf village Tsunade called a Five Kage Summit. They were to meet in the Land of Iron. With the Raikage gone it was much easier to snoop around for information. I was able to find out that they are on an island that has a secret training ground. It is off the east coast of the Land of Lightning. From what I could gather only a very small team went so that they would be harder to detect."

"I see, and how is my army?"

"Awaiting your orders."

"Good...prepare them and meet me at this island. It will take much to bring down the eight and nine tails." Zetsu disappeared back into the water.

"Kisame..."

"Yes?"

"Push the boat." Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at that. It just went to show how little Madara really cared. He would make his teammate push the boat instead of letting the wind and the sails do the work.

"What did you say?" Kisame looked stunned.

"He said push the boat." Sasuke repeated for the shark man. It wasn't lost on him that Kisame carried one of the seven ninja swords. If Suigetsu was here he would fight him to the death for it right then and there. Reluctantly Kisame got into the water and began pushing the boat. Sasuke watched the man who sat across from him in silence. Madara was leaning nonchalantly against the side of the boat with his legs crossed as if he had not a care in the world. It made Sasuke's heart heavy that this was all that was left of his kin. It also lifted his heart thinking about how Naruto had managed to pull him back from the brink. That could have, would have been him if it hadn't been for Naruto. He would never be able to express his gratitude enough.

"Tell me something." Madara looked over at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "What's your real goal?"

"You know my plans."

"I know you tried to get me to join you and insinuated that we would rule the world together. That suggests that your plan is world domination, yet you care nothing for people. You would kill the entire world to achieve your goals, but without people there is nothing to rule, that makes me think that your plan is something completely different. Something that embraces your blatant disregard for all human life, or anything you don't deem worthy." It annoyed Sasuke that Madara constantly wore a mask, he didn't understand the point, there was no reason for him to hide his identity out in the middle of the ocean, and he knew that he didn't need it to hide his emotions every, Uchiha's had a stone cold poker face. The fact that another Uchiha was alive was surprising enough, but the chances of it being the supposedly long dead Madara Uchiha was pushing it. When Sasuke had joined the Akatsuki previously he hadn't bothered to ask questions, he didn't care. Now that he was trying to take them down and was examining everything more closely things weren't adding up and it was making him uneasy.

Madara let out a slow chuckle that resonating from deep within his throat. "Very observant. You want to know my plans? My true goal?" He paused for dramatic effect. "World peace." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean really Sasuke, what better way is there to achieve world peace than by world domination?" Sasuke had to admit that his twisted logic did make some twisted sense to a certain degree, even if he didn't agree. "Most people don't agree with my idea of world peace though, that's why many will have to die for the greater good."

"Why bother?" Sasuke had on his best, I don't give a shit about anything face. "Why not just leave the world to its ways? It's done nothing for you, so why bother trying to create world peace for a world that doesn't want it? What's to keep people from fighting back and rebelling against your glorious plan?" Sarcasm dripped from Sasuke's last two words.

"That's why I want the tailed beasts of course." Madara said it as if it was obvious.

"So, you'll force everyone into submission?" Madara let out a laugh that was almost genuine. It creeped Sasuke out. "My dear Sasuke, I want the Ten Tails so that I can put the world into Infinite Tsukuyomi. Why would anyone want to rebel against a perfect world? Their families and loved ones returned to them, and nothing bad ever happening. Perhaps at first some would fight, but soon, even the strongest will would bend and lose the ability to distinguish reality from illusion. So, you see? World peace."

Sasuke had to keep himself from flying across the boat and attacking Madara. All he could think about was the arrogance that this man had thinking that he could create the perfect reality for the world, he couldn't possibly know what everyone truly wanted. If he had his way, him and Naruto wouldn't be together, their perfect reality would be stripped from them and he was sure they wouldn't be the only ones. He brought himself under control before he spoke.

"I'll give you points for creativity."

"You'll see soon enough Sasuke, and perhaps I may yet convince you to join me." Sasuke refrained from commenting on how that was never going to happen and played it safe instead.

"If you can make it worth my time. Maybe I'd rather live in an illusion."

"Wouldn't we all?" Madara and Sasuke went back to sitting in silence and Sasuke set his mind to finding a way to get a messenger bird to Sai.