Chapter 33

"So, what do you want?" The Old man asked as he relaxed in his seat. If my perception had not been so high, I'd have been hard pressed to see the minute twitch of his lips or in his cheeks that told of the immense pain he must be going through right now.

After the fight yesterday, Hiruzen had only been able to remain standing long enough to invite Anbu to escort me to a hotel room, most likely so I would be too far to see what happened next. Of course, that was a thorough underestimation of my senses and range. I sensed it the moment when he collapsed to the floor once he was sure that I was some distance away.

Fighting and beating Orochimaru to an inch of his life had taken a lot out of the old man, obviously, and when they finally got him the health care he needed, it was clear the man did not have long for this world. Not if he were to remain an active Ninja at least. That was why I'd spent the entire night watching the Konoha medic nin as they went through surgery after surgery to fix the myriad of injuries he'd suffered and the general wear and tear from pushing a body like his so far to keep up with relatively young S-rank monsters. Especially when two of those monsters had endless regeneration and practically infinite chakra to toss around.

The fact that they were even capable of keeping him alive was worthy of praise, and it was why I ignored all the other pressing things that I could have done instead and focused on the Konoha medical nin team. The entire ninja world knew and recognised that Konoha had the best medical nina, the best medical techniques, and the best tools in the world. Tsunade had revolutionised and changed the entire industry and practice and as I watched them carry on business with the kind of efficiency and smoothness that only Chiyo in Suna could even dream of matching.

We had only one doctor on that level. They had what looked to be dozens. Fuck. If life could be more unfair. I watched and did my best to commit everything I saw and sensed to memory and prepare to replicate it to teach Chiyo and the medical nin back home. If Hiruzen and the Konoha doctors were going to give me an unknowing front row seat to their best practices, then who was I to refuse. What it did mean though was that my original reason for watching the process was forced to be scrapped at the end. Sneaking a seal or something on Hiruzen's person while he'd be unconscious and unable to do notice was one objective that I'd hatched once he collapsed, but with the level of detail and care the medical nin were putting into their work, and their visible level of skill, I was reluctant to risk it. Getting caught would just set me back with nothing to gain for it.

"We already came to an agreement, did we not?" I asked him, leaning back into my own seat as well.

"Don't play games, boy. I haven't the patience for it. Yesterday, you fought off an S-rank missing nin, the Tsuchikage himself and the reincarnated corpses of the first two Hokage. Far above and beyond what anyone would expect from any form of alliance. So the question becomes, what do you want? Or are you just an insane child drunk on his own power and seeking more and more tests until you eventually meet the one that kills you. Would fit, I guess. If you're going to take inspiration from the Hozuki's clan hydrification then might as well add the Kaguya's bloodlust and insanity to it. Kami knows they'd intermarried enough times." He said, looking irritated at me, and as the seconds wore on, I could see some of that irritation turn inwards as he realised that he'd broken the facade of the genial old man, quite thoroughly. I guess for all the superhuman feats of Ninja, having half your kidney and a whole lung replaced in the same night didn't leave one in much of a mood for political discourse.

So, I decided to humour him. "Fine. I guess the answer is a bit of a mixture of both. The fights yesterday were a good way to measure my own capacity. To see where I measured in the wider ninja world, and the answer was heartwarming to say the least. But it was not everything. I want to maintain my alliance with Konoha. Not just allies of opportunity, but true ones. Brothers in arms. Comrades. Suna and Konoha, working together to usher the shinobi world to an unprecedented age. Hashirama and Madara shook hands and the world changed. Why don't we do the same?"

"To what end?" He asked, covering up his shock well, but nothing beyond my capacity to detect.

"Peace. True peace in our time."

"A noble goal, but an impossible one. You think even together, we'd have the power."

"Yes. Yes I do. Iwa is basically a non-factor. They've lost their Kage, his heir, one of their most promising Jounin and their entire explosion corps in one fell swoop. Kumo will not keep us both at bay and Kiri is a mess that anyone with the time would pacify with ease. This is the time. Together we'd have it all at our fingertips."

"It would be war."

"One to end all the others." I riposted.

"That rhetoric, I've heard it a million times. Never from anyone whose war ended up ending anything beyond the lives of thousands and the hope for peace" A voice spoke out suddenly, and only Gamer's mind prevented me from jumping in shock or acting startled.

I simply turned towards the Toad Sage like I knew he'd always been leaning against that window, while internally freaking out trying to figure out how he fooled my senses so thoroughly. "Mine will be different. I'll make sure of it" I said to him.

"You will, won't you? Pretty sure they've all said those exact words as well. How different will it be when the world burns around you as you chase dominance? When the mothers wail as their children are killed by angry shinobi. When the…"

"Jiraiya, that's enough." That was the first time I heard Hiruzen raise his voice. The previously soft tone was gone,and replaced with a hard look in his eyes that quickly fell apart as he nearly collapsed into a coughing fit. I made it like I didn't notice. Ignored it, but I could see Jiraiya itching to go to his Sensei's side. Only something like village pride and the desire to not show weakness before a possible enemy kage had him hesitating.

But still, I took the time Hiruzen's coughing gave me for what it was- an opportunity. Jiraiya being here changed things. I'd wondered as to his whereabouts during the invasion as I doubted that he'd just dedicated himself solely to fighting off giant snakes at the walls of Konoha. Part of me hoped he'd died. A small part, yes. The rest of me was just happy to see one of my favourite characters in the flesh. White long mane, flashy clothes and a fierce expression on his face as he regarded me.

He thought me to be a mad man, and I could not truly blame him. I'd think myself mad too if I heard the things I'd said. I ached to run to me and tell him it was all a lie. A smokescreen to cloak my true intentions. After all, how could I tell Hiruzen that the goal was not to save his village, but to save enough of it so I could bleed it dry in a long war with the rest of the world and then swoop in at the end to take all the heads and declare myself God-emperor of everything from this side of the continent to the next.

Sure, I didn't have much reason for wanting what I did. No reason beyond the fact that I didn't know if I could achieve it and that made me curious. In terms of long term goals, beyond annihilating the akatsuki, I had zilch, nada, zero. Nothing that drove me forwards. Sure, I enjoyed ruling Suna. Being responsible for so many lives must have been something the average person would have been scared of, shied away from. Not me though. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the tedium of rulership. Maybe Pax romana. That would certainly carve my legacy in the elemental nations. I would never die, not truly. No. But I wanted to be spoken of in even greater terms than Hashirama and Madara themselves. Let the world quake at my name and let it all crumble and fall until only I remained at the top? The Sun will set on Gaara's empire, maybe. Naaa, that was just insane. And way too much stress for a person who'd contributed to a kickstarter campaign for someone to build a self wiping toilet in his previous life. Nope, a quiet retirement would be it for me.

When Hiruzen was finally done, he gave Jiaiya a look, unspoken words passing between them before he turned to me, "Kurotsuchi of Iwa and her friend, Akatsuchi have escaped from captivity." What the fuck? That wasn't possible. I bound and captured the fuckers myself after they had the bright idea of attempting to run from me. The fight they'd put up hadn't even been worthy of note, so what the hell?

"We suspect that one of our own, Yakushi Kabuto, was actually an agent of Orocimaru's and is now seeking to rule over what remains of Otogakure with his master now in our possession."

"Wait, if he was able to get Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, why not Orochimaru?" I asked, while looking between the both of them. It ended up being Jiraiya who answered.

"With Orochimaru's familiarity with the village, and the possibility of him having agents we were yet to discover or notice, I made the decision of keeping him captive in the toad realm instead of within the village."

"The toad realm?" I asked feigning confusion

"You're unfamiliar with summoning realms? Well, that's a subject that deserves its own rather lengthy conversation. To put it simply, summon creatures use a form of energy that doesn't necessarily meld well with the elemental nations, so they form realms or domains around wellsprings of that energy they need to survive. The home of the toads, my summons, is called Mount Myoboku." He said, explaining it. Me nodding along at all the right places was enough to convince him that I got it because he stopped after that.

"But the main question I have is why are you telling me all this? With all due respect, we ninja are rarely ever so forthcoming"

"That was my idea." Jiraiya spoke up.

"You want to be allies, eh? Why not be true allies. Comrades in arms, maybe. You help us, we help you. Konoha and Suna working together for a common purpose. You did us a favour by getting rid of Orochimaru the first time and foiling his invasion yesterday. We've done you one by giving you information, and dealing with a missing ninja of your own" At the last words, he tapped his vambrace and unsealed a head that he tossed at me. Previously loosely spread grains of sand suddenly coalesced into a tendril that plucked it right out of the air before it got even close.

I turned it towards me for a closer look and smiled at the familiar shock of red hair and the scowl on the face. Hello Akasuna no Sasori. "It's a shock to see him looking so young" I said, poking to see what exactly Jiraiya knew.

"He had some fancy technique he used to turn his body into a puppet. Once I found the core, it was easy to take him out though" He said, waving it off. I narrowed my eyes at that.

Sasori had had something in his possession that I'd been interested in. Something that I was now sure Konoha had. If Sasori had to resort to using his personal body for the fight, then that meant Jiraiya had dealt with all his puppets in one manner or the other. Konoha had the third Kazekage. Well, fuck.

"This isn't an equivalent exchange, though. Sasori was nothing to me. Nothing to Suna but a missing ninja we'd have caught up to one way or another."

"We could just as easily say the same about Orochimaru." Jiraiya riposted weakly. It was clear to see that his education had been just a bit incomplete. A weak lie like that had no place in a civilised conversation like this one. To make my point, I stared meaningfully at the Third Hokage himself before looking out the window at the smoking remains of one of the high rise buildings that had once ruled over Konoha's skyline.

I smiled as I spoke, "Let's not deceive ourselves."

"Enough. This meeting has two purposes. First to sus out what you want from us, and secondly to offer repayment for your services yesterday"

"Repayment?"

"Yes. We have it on good authority that your village is in need of all the cash it can get at the moment. Konoha will pay you the equivalent of two S-class missions for what you did for us yesterday and offer you some important information on a threat to your own life."

"Five."

"What?"

"I fought five S-class Ninja yesterday. I'll take the payment for five S-class missions"

"Look here boy.." Jiraiya started only for Hiruzen to interject.

"Done."

"Now the information?"

"The missing nin your clone fought yesterday. The one with the explosives." Jiraiya was the one to speak, even though he was clearly dissatisfied with how quickly Hiruzen had capitulated to my demand.

"Deidara. I know him"

"Yes, him. The cloak he was wearing. Black with red clouds, its the hallmark of an organisation I've been keeping an eye on."

"And this concerns me how?"

"I'm getting there. It's an organisation of S-class missing ninja. Being S-class is the minimum requirement for joining, and their goal is to hunt down people belonging to a very exclusive group of nine members, of which you're number 1." He said with a significant look. Huge surprise that they were just going to come out and tell me about the Akatsuki. My best guess was that they thought the Akatsuki were going to come after us in order and me putting up a fight gave them more time to prepare their cute little saviour of the world superweapon.

"Oh, that must be so scary for you. In case you've forgotten, I beat four of them yesterday" I said, leaning back into my seat arrogantly. I was trying to sell an image here, and from what I could tell, it was working. Jiraiya was obviously suppressing the urge to march over and give me a good whack upside the head.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. From what I can tell, Deidara was strong, but not that strong, and yes Onoki was impressive, but he was also old, and you did take advantage of his granddaughter to get the killing blow in. Both the reincarnated Hokage were shadows of their old selves. Hashirama or Tobirama at full strength would beat you black and blue. Besides, think about this. S-rank ninja are famously prideful creatures. Just what kind of monster do you think it would take to bring people like that together and command their obedience? You're a strong kid, but definitely not that strong." He said to me, walking forwards till he was leaning over the chair I'd sank deeper in.

My sand pushed the chair backwards till it slammed against the wall and I was on my feet, looking up at him, directly in the eyes in seconds. "Think you can take me?" I asked with a scoff.

"Anytime, any day of the week, kid." he replied, making me chuckle. Jiraiya had some tricks, but nothing I couldn't beat. Maybe I'd kill him and take his body to learn more about Senjutsu from a corpse with the power to use it.

"Enough. The both of you. Jiraiya, the rest of your report, please"

We stared at each other for a few seconds longer, until the Sannin backed off and I pulled the chair back with a tendril of sand before plopping on it again.

"The Akatsuki, to the best of our knowledge has 8 remaining members; Kakuzu the bounty hunter, Hidden the Immortal, Kisame the Tailless Tailed Beast, Clankiller Itachi, Noel the laughing Storm and three others we can't identify, along with their unidentified leader."

"Noel?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. What the fuck?

"Yes. Your opponent at your first chunin exams, wasn't he? Word on the street is that he caused some mighty trouble up in Kumo and the Akatsuki guys bailed him out before the Clouds could make him disappear the same way they deal with all their problematic ones."

"I see," I replied, deep in thought. Did I cause this? How? Noel hadn't even appeared in canon at all, and now he's a member of fucking akatsuki. It was a notable thing, but not something I could see myself agonising over. After all, I'd beaten him as a six-year-old, and if he thought I was anywhere near that level when we met again, his bones would make an excellent trophy for my room.

XXXXX- THE ANGEL OF GOD

"Deidara is dead" Sasori said the moment his apparition appeared for the meeting. Nagato was silent. Not a word was said. Would have been glorious, complete silence if Hidan hadn't chosen that moment to burst into laughter.

"Guess we know whose art won now, don't we? Did ya kill him yaself?" The mad Jashinist asked before bursting into laughter again. The fact that we all turned to Sasori to answer the question was enough to almost drive me to tears. Where had Yahiko's dream gone so wrong? The Akatsuki, the red dawn of Ame. An organisation of freedom fighters and idealists, now nothing more than a den for psychopaths and criminals.

"No. No I didn't. The fool got into a fight with the Kazekage and didn't leave it alive." Sasori spoke in an unusually youthful voice. His Hiruko puppet was gone, I noticed. A sign he encountered resistance of his own. The fact that he'd returned to report before fixing the shell was also a portent of nothing good. Nothing good at all.

"And you? What happened to you" Hidan's partner, Kakuzu said with narrowed eyes in his baritone.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin." He said, making me snap my head to Nagato in shock. Jiraiya-sensei?

"Is he dead?" I asked, doing my best to prevent anything entering my tone.

"No. He destroyed the third Kazekage and a few of my most important masterpieces, and after the Jinchuriki boy ended most of the invasion, I judged it to be needless to continue the fight and faked my death to make my escape

Jiraiya-sensei! Still as strong as ever, I see. Oh what would Yahiko say if he were here now? What would you say when you see what we've become.

Yahiko's body suddenly spoke, but as ever, it was in Nagato's voice. Cold and unfeeling like those purple eyes that now dotted Yahiko's face. I'd agreed with it when Nagato first came up with the idea.

To see Yahiko's body brought to life again was supposed to give me some measure of joy. It was supposed to make everything better. But no it didn't. It only served as a reminder of what I'd lost. Yahiko wasn't alive. Those eyes that stared through his sockets were lifeless. Same with the voice, same with the expressions. That unfeeling, apathetic look that was so easy to Nagato these days was alien on Yahiko's face. What I'd thought would be a way to get the man I'd loved back had become nothing more than a constant mockery of who he'd been. His bright smiles, his cheerful eyes, his voice, his personality. All of it was gone, replaced with the cold shell that was all that remained of Nagato after Yahiko's death.

We both grieved in our own ways and I hated myself for resenting him for it, but his way of grieving seemed to make my pain worse over time. And then I could never tell him because I knew that if I asked, he'd stop. He'd always stop for me. I loved Yahiko, and Nagato hid it well, but I know he did too.

"So the fool asked for a mission that ended up getting him killed, not a surprise" It was Zetsu's voice that brought me back to reality. "Oh don't be so mean" The creature's other half spoke back almost instantly. Another one of the freaks that diseased this akatsuki.

"I only agreed to send you both on this mission because Deidara assured me it would give us vital information on both the Kyuubi and Ichibi. Tell me, what have you learnt?" Yahiko's body spoke again in Nagato's voice and I buried my flinch with what had now become years of practice and experience with the sensation.

"Nothing much on the Kyuubi. A few of my agents got to see the boy during the invasion but he was nothing special. The Ichibi, however? It took out Deidara, and didn't just stop there. It also managed to kill Onoki the fencesitter himself after transforming into its full form" Sasori spoke in the voice of a teenager that didn't fit with what I knew was the consciousness of a man my age inside that body. This gathering of freaks never ceased to unnerve me.

"A full transformation? And the boy maintained control?" Kakuzu interjected

"As best as I can tell" Sasori confirmed, making the Monster of the Mist burst into his own laughter.

"I guess Kumo is finally getting a run for their money eh?" He teased, looking directly at one of our newest members, Noel Yatsuki. That one. More sane than most of the monsters I worked with, but still displeasing to me. Not because of who he was but what he represented. He was the second one, after Kakuzu that the Masked Man had brought to us himself. Uchiha Madara was playing his own game here, and only Nagato's desire to adopt a wait and see approach kept me from killing them all where they stood. Madara thought of me and Nagato as his pawns. His tools in whatever grand plan he had. But he'd find that not to be the case eventually. Nagato was getting stronger. Soon, he'd be strong enough that we wouldn't need any of this. Maybe he'd one day even get strong enough that he wouldn't need Yahiko's body anymore.