Kaiya jumped back into their positions. The Raikage's began. "Now let's continue our discussion. The hidden leaf, the stone, the mist, the sand. The Akatsuki membership are composed of rouge shinobi from your villages. That's not all either. From our investigations we know that among you and the earlier kage, there are those who even used the Akatsuki."
Gaara lifted his head. "Used them?"
"And that's why I don't trust any of you. I have any interest in any discourse. But the reason I summoned you all to the summit is to openly question your loyalties!"
"What do you mean by using them?"
"You're the Kazekage yet you don't know? You of the sand had previously used the Akatsuki in battle." Kaiya began to do a recap on what he meant. The tsuchikage spoke about the hindrances of military and Gaara started to understand. "The kage will realize that one way to avoid that risk is to use mercenary soldiers namely soldiers from the Akatsuki."
"It takes effort and money to cultivate accomplished ninja from within ones own village. The Akatsuki is made up of experienced professionals, further more they can be hired quite cheeply. Best of all their soldiers have always delivered superior results." The tsuchikage states.
Raikage scowls. "Don't be pompous. The sand once used the Akatsuki to try to destroy the leaf." Kaiya figured it out but to further verify the conclussio, she listened more. "I'm talking about Orochimaru though he may have already left the Akatsuki by then. But as a result your father and the third hokage Hiruzen perished."
Temari noticed Kaiya stiffen. No doubt replaying her adoptive fathers last moments when she saw him alive. The large dark skinned man continues still. "It's also hard to dismiss the possibility this was all part of a larger plot." His eyes look towards Donzo before looking at the only female kage present. "But the most suspicious at all is the hidden mist. The mist never engages in diplomacy sand it's rumored that the Akatsuki also started there!"
The beautiful lady looked down. "Since it has come to this, I must be honest. We suspect that someone from behind the scenes was manipulating Yagura. The man who was Mizukage before me. There's a possibility that, that someone was the Akatsuki and that...is exactly why I didn't want to talk big."
The Raikage growled. "Each and every one of you."
"Before you start arguing over each other's merits I would like to state the point I was about to make earlier."
Kaiya narrowed her eyes. "It's probable that the leader of the Akatsuki is Madara Uchiha." That made everyone in the room freeze.
Mizu-Sama was the first to speak. "Are you sure of that?"
Gaara looked over at Danzo with doubt. "But how can that be possible? Hasn't he been dead for several decades?"
Little old man agreed. She really didn't care to listen to his words at all. "Well I don't know all of the details but the information is quite a reliable source."
Black kage stood. She was slowly coming up with shortened nicknames for all of them. "Are you saying he's immortal?"
"Perhaps."
"So he's some inhuman monster...."
Mifune cleared his throat. "I'd like to say this as a leader of a neutral nation, The leader of the Akatsuki has been able to read the times well despite stabilizing, the great nations harbor suspicions about each other. The Akatsuki seized onto that weakness to amass its power."
"Get to the point." Black kage orders.
"Now please just calm down. We can turn this misfortune into a blessing, it's very rare for all five kage to convene in one location. What do you all say to this: until the Akatsuki are disposed of, why not establish the worlds first allies shinobi forces of five hidden villages?"
"An allied ninja force?"
Danzo nodded. "That's a splendid idea, we're practically in a state of emergency. Cooperation will be crucial now."
"Moving forward with this plan, a standardized chain of command would also be ideal. Further chaos must be avoided."
Lil old man agrees agin. "And whom do you propose handing the reigns of the allied forces to then?"
"If the choice was up to you then you all will just argue. Therefore since I was chosen as a neutral party worthy of presiding over you I would like to make this suggestion. I'll decide who among the five kage would be most suitable to lead."
Kaiya looked around at all the kage quietly. Her eyes froze on Danzo. He was smiling. "The leaf has the last jinjuriki. The one containing the ninetials. I feel how he is guided will be the key. I'd say, why not allow the hokage to be allowed to lead." She growled. Danzo was the last person she's want to see in control of all shinobi. By all the reactions, she wasn't the only one.
The tricky bastard acted nonchalant despite the announcement. "If all of you approve of this, I'll gladly humbly accept this position."
Black kage remained standing as he shook with anger. "Why the hokage? He also known as the shinobi of darkness, we can not let him take charge!"
Mifune crossed his arms. "Then who else?"
He goes on saying how his village was the most trust worthy since it never produced a member of the Akatsuki. But the samurai general pointed to the gaping hole on the table as proof that he wasn't suitable. "Lord Kazekage is still too young to spear ahead such a venture, lord Tsuchikage is too old, and since lady Mizukage's mist is being rumored as the birthplace of this organization, there may be intelligence leaks. We don't know why the Akatsuki are gathering the tailed beasts or what we intend to do with them. But we do know that we can't let them have the ninetials. And it belongs to the leaf, thus I feel it's appropriate to let the hokage be named as leader."
Kaiya noticed the older of the Mizukage's escorts seeming to think. Kaiya walked over to him. "Hey Ao is your name right?"
He looked down at her and nodded. "Though I am of the leaf, I am currently with the Kazekage. I do not trust the current Hokage at all. Feel free to use the byakugan I smell on you and figure out why Mifune is giving him power so easily." His eye hardened and he lifts his head to stare at Danzo. "Chojuro prepare for battle."
He makes a hand sign and instantly sees what's wrong. "Lord hokage! Please show us the eye you keep covered under that bandage."
Everyone else turned to look at the Hokage. "I believe you stole Shisui Uchiha's eye and transplanted it in place of your own."
Gaara narrows his eyes at this revelation. "It's Shisui Uchiha's..."
"The man who was praised alongside Itachi as the uchiha most gifted in the use of visual jutsu?" Lady blue asked.
Ao nodded. "Yes. His particular jutsu allows him to enter the minds of others, make them go through phantom experiences of his own choosing and manipulate them. It was such a top notch visual jutsu that no one ever even caught on to having been manipulated."
Suddenly Kaiya got a eery feeling. "Damn what now?" She trusted when her instincts acted up, that something would happen soon. Black kage glared. "Hokage, don't tell me Mifune is..."
Said samurai looked up. "But how could? Wait is that...." He noticed the veins surrounding Ao's eye, covered by the eyepatch. "My right eye is also a precious spoil of war from a battle against the Hyuga. So I'm not really one to cast blame but I-" Kaiya jumped out and stood on the table I front of Gaara. "Guard the kage!" She shouted just as a green bud shaped thing shoots out of the ground. It unwraps to show a unfortunately familiar face.
A white skinned man with geen hair, Zetsu. "Well hellooooo there!" All the escorts did just as told, instantly having there weapons out and ready to protect the leaders. Though Danzo's two merely stood there. "Is he Akatsuki?"
"Yes. She answered him. One known as Zetsu. He's a spy."
Zetsu grinned and twisted around to look at everyone with his one orange eye. "Guess what? Sasuke Uchiha has snuck in here! I wonder, where do you think he could be hiding right now? Any guesses?!" His voice was high pitched and way to happy sounding.
Gaara stood up "Sasuke Uchiha."
Black kage suddenly was choking Zetsu. "Where is Sasuke now? Answer me!"
"Well since you give me no choice I'll give you a little gaaahk-" his neck was broken but she doubted that he had died. It isn't that easy to kill. "You!" He pointed at her and her ears lifted. "Eh?"
"How did you know he was going to apear?"
Lady blue sighed. "More importantly, you didn't have to kill him. We could have gotten some Intel."
Gaara shook his head. "It wouldn't work. None in the Akatsuki have ever talked. They are all completely devoted. Mifune orders a search for Sasuke immediately. Black kage dropped Zetsu and turned around. "Hidden one eyed mist guy keep that eye trained on the Hokage. Cee and Darui come on!" He rests back and punched a giant hole in the wall. The man with white hair scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry about the desk and the wall there." Then he hand the blonde fellow ran out.
Kaiya felt the electricity in the air and heard the faint sound of chidori. "Sweet Luna, Sasuke what are you doing..." She sighed as a rumble shook the building. Ao looked at Zetsu's corpse. "It doesn't look like he'll rise again."
Mifune looked up. "Lord Ao, please confirm if the hokage's visual jutsu is still engaged."
"No. Right now the flow in his chakra network is quiet. The jutsu's undone."
"Can you guys stop calling him the hokage? Lady Taunade isn't dead just in a coma from saving people with her chakra." Kaiya growled without caring for who she was speaking to.
"As a leaf shinobi, you will do well not go against me. Once we return, I'll punish you accordingly for this insult."
She snarled and clenched her fists but Gaara stood in front of her. "Kaiya is currently employed on a mission for me as a bodyguard, show any violence towards her, I will not forgive you."
"I'm not returning as long as he's the hokage." She grumbles under her breath.
He narrowed his eye at them and grunted. "You should all relax, this jutsu isn't one I can just use so many times in one day."
Ao scowled. "Be quiet, I shall decide that. For you are a man who simply can't be trusted, your fellow everyday leaf ninja agrees." He gestures to the she-wolf. "She was also the one who suggested I use the byakugan." This sent another hateful glare her way. "I can't believe the byakugan fell into someone else's hands. If a hidden leaf Hyuga turned traitor, I would have taken care of them at once."
"Your probably planning on disposing me now that I know your little secret."
Kaiya snorts, 'Wouldn't put it past him.'
Lady blue interjects. "I'll fight you myself if need be. Especially since your visual jutsu may be connected to the one that manipulated the fourth Mizukage."
Gaara watched in silence as the older shinobi argued. "Lord hokage. All ninjutsu is firbidden here. You have lost trust and credibility. A shame, since I may have still chosen you, I do not resort to such tactics." Kaiya was visibly growing agitated. She kept mumbling about 'corrupt politics' and things of the like. He agreed with her though. These people were acting out of greed.
"But may have isn't good enough. I'm prepared to do whatever it takes in order to protect the shinobi world. It's imperative that our whole world unites as one." Danzo defended.
Little old man joined in. "But it takes time and patience to actualize one's ideals. Impatience makes one short sited and invites failure. That's what happened to you."
"Taking the time to do it morally and ethically will result in no change. And the Akatsuki will destroy the whole shinobi world."
"But your dream is nothing more but a impossibility. They sound noble but in the end you'll only breed distrust, ill feelings, hatred, and resentment. Why Danzo, we can't even trust your words at this point."
He looked down, remembering the distrust between his father and himself despite being born in order to protect the sand as a weapon. He closed his eyes. "If we can't even trust each other, if that is the state of our world and of being human, then we have no future."
The Tsuchikage looked up. "Eh? What does that mean?"
"Without mutual trust and understanding, all that will remain in this world would be fear and terror. I simply can't tolerate giving up so easily, or any plan that doesn't incorporate morality." He remembered Kaiya back as a gennin how she was willing to trust someone like him without knowing anything at all even after seeing his true self and also Naruto Uzumaki, who never gave up.
"You pose such difficult concepts so simply but your a brave brat who knows nothing about running a village. But I'll tell you what, now's your chance to ask anything you'd like and as your senior I'll answer any question you have. Hey Danzo?" He cackles wickedly.
Gaara thought for a moment. "Then, let me ask you this."
"Sure go ahead and ask away."
"When did all of you, forsake yourselves?"
This took the old man by surprise and was rendered speechless. Kankuro smirks while Temari turns around. "Alright Gaara, what are we gonna do now? We once worked with the hidden leaf on their mission to retrieve Sasuke but he's sunk so low, he's join the Akatsuki." Kaiya grunted, crossing her arms. "Idiot duck-butt."
Gaara leaps forward without a word, Kaiya took off after him. The other two followed seconds later with his gourd. The sound of battle echoes in the halls from the room bellow. She glanced to the side at him, his expression unreadable.
'Sasuke. Your causing a lot of people trouble ya know that?' Her firelight eyes became shadowed as she tried to remember where things went wrong. Sasuke killed Itachi but....what was he aiming for now? Wasn't his goal fulfilled? How far has her formal teammate, though temporary, fallen into darkness? "Kaiya." Gaara's voice brought her back into the present. She looked around and saw the fight they came across. Sand shot forth to block the black kage's foot before it hit Sasuke. She noticed the purple skeleton around him as well as the black flames.
The redhead walked forward as Temari sliced away the armor of a burning samurai and Kankuro pulled it off with his chakra strings.
Anetarasu....eternal black flames. Like her black lightning except not. "All samurai should get out of here!" She shouted. Gaara nodded in approval of the call. "This is the problem of the shinobi world. There is no need for samurai to become casualties."
A samurai helped the previously flame covered man up. "Thank you lord Kazekage."
Black kage glared. "Why did you interfere Kazekage? Your answer will determine your punishment."
"If you had continued with your attack, the black flames would have further injured you. Besides...I wish to speak to Sasuke Uchiha."
Kaiya walked over to black kage when he sliced of his own arm. "I am a medic, allow me to assist you."
He stared down at her small form and looked at the blonde fellow beside him. Seeing his subordinate unfit to do any healing. "Alright then."
She lifted her hands and a green glow formed around her palms. "Why so eager to help me? Aren't you supposed to side with the hokage?" He asked gruffly. Kaiya sneered at the thought of serving under Danzo. "My loyalty lies with Tsunade, that man is not the Hokage to me. My papa would agree."
"And he's-"
"The man that raised me was The third Hokage." She answers, her voice wavering a little. After stopping the blood flow to the extent she could, she returned to Gaara's side. Sasuke stood there, blood running out of his left eye. The design of the sharingan had changed.
So.... He really has fallen far.