Rocks crumbled away from the Chibaku Tensei in the sky and Pein stared up in confusion until the dust cleared and two figures stood there, neither of which was a beast. Shi cracked her neck and sighed, glancing over at Naruto with slumped shoulders.

"You think you can handle him?"

He looked over at her, confused. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"I just… There might still be other people in the village, some injured, some not and… if you can take him, then I'll go help… You know…"

He nodded. "Yeah. Sure. I can do that… Are you sure you're okay though?"

Shi looked over at him, eyes buried in sadness. "No. I'm not okay and I don't think I will ever be okay without him…" She turned away, changing into her usual beast form—the one she could control—and speaking over her shoulder. "…but I can keep going. I will protect the village and the people he gave his life for."

Naruto hesitated, but nodded and Shi took off just as the Chibaku Tensei began to crumble and Naruto turned to face Pein.

It was hard. Harder than everything I'd ever been put through. I needed to move on, to respect Kakashi's memory and try to start anew. But to let him go. To throw away that emotion that I forgot I had after so long, it was so difficult. But I had to try. I had already lost control by letting the beast go rampant and I knew that if Kakashi had seen that, that he would surely hate me for what I'd become, so I started shutting out emotions again. Locking them away in a tight box in the back of my mind. First went sorrow, then grief, then anger, then joy, happiness, excitement. All of it, I just locked up.

As I did this, I went around the village, sniffing out any trapped civilians or shinobi and using my large size to get them out from under the rubble. I then made a clone and sent them off to the medics. I did this for a while, before I found myself back in front of Kakashi. I stepped forward, slow and hesitant, pushing the rubble off him and nudging him with my large muzzle as a single tear slid down my face. I'm sorry, Kakashi… I'm sorry I couldn't be here fast enough. I heard a clatter and looked down to find, wrapped in Kakashi's fist, my marked kunai that I had given him. I felt my emotions trying to break through again. Rage at the Pein who killed him, deep sorrow for having lost him, and the heart wrenching love I felt for him, knowing that even in his death, he was thinking of me.

Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I transformed back into my human form and picked his body up onto my back. I hooked the kunai to a chain and draped it over my neck, before carrying Kakashi with my own power, to where I could smell Sakura and a few others. After a moment, I smelled a bit of Naruto's blood, but it wasn't enough to be too concerned about and I continued onwards. When I reached where Sakura was at, I was hesitant about walking up with Kakashi. What if she didn't know? What if she did? I shut myself off from these questions and headed forward, coming up behind her and the rest of the group, Hinata being the first to spot me.

"Shi…"

I glanced at her and turned away, setting Kakashi down and laying him out, ignoring the stares I was receiving from the others.

"I'm going to go back out and search for more survivors." I said, sounding defeated even to myself, before I looked over at Sakura. "I'm… sorry I couldn't save him."

She went to speak, when the large slug behind her spoke.

"Naruto defeated the 6th Pein."

Lee cheered happily and Sakura asked if he was injured, but I stayed silent through it all, giving Kakashi one last look before standing to leave. Guy's team was eager to set out after Naruto, who had gone to meet with the final Pein, but before they left, Guy placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. He didn't say anything, he knew I wouldn't want any comfort right now, and he left not long after. Everyone's stares were still on my back and it was getting harder and harder to ignore them, before I took off my marked kunai and placed it on Kakashi's chest, moving his hands to hold it. Without looking at anyone else, I stood from my kneeling position, transformed, and took off; not being able to handle any more worried looks.

A small crackling fire sat in the middle of a darkened campsite and two silver haired men sat around it, looking upset.

"I see. You've had your share of trouble too…"

"Yeah."

Kakashi sat with his father, looking upset.

"But… I never thought we'd both die so young…"

Kakashi stayed silent.

"Though, not as young as your mother…" He looked over at Kakashi. "You mentioned a woman? Shi, you said?"

Kakashi nodded. "She probably already knows what happened to me. She'll be devastated."

"Anyone would be."

Kakashi shook his head. "Pein will be lucky if she hasn't torn him apart. She…" He sighed. "She just started to open up… just started to feel again."

"Well, to fall for someone so emotionally stunted like you, she must be pretty good."

Kakashi went quiet, not taking offense to what his father said; he was only trying to ease the tense atmosphere. So, Kakashi switched topics.

"Regardless of what happened, you did the best you could."

His father seemed shocked.

"I understand now." Kakashi continued. "You broke the rules for all of our sakes. I'm proud of you now."

There was a short pause, before his father spoke. "Thank you…"

Just then, a light hit Kakashi in the back, lighting him up in a white glow. "What?"

"Looks like it's not your time yet. You still have things to do."

"Dad…"

His father gave him a small smile. "I'm glad I was able to speak with you. Thank you for forgiving me… Now I can move on. I can finally see your mother again."

Kakashi opened his eyes and found himself back in his body, alive. Sakura was there and he had obviously been moved, but before he could even think about it, there was a clatter and he looked down to see Shi's marked kunai lying on the ground next to him. He picked it up as Sakura stuttered out his name.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?"

He looked over at her, clutching Shi's kunai and gave her a small, closed-eye grin. "Nice to see you again, Sakura."

Her eyes widened as he stood. "A-Ah! Wait! You shouldn't be moving yet!"

He just looked down at the kunai in his hand and back up. "I can't stay here, Sakura. I need to find Naruto and… Shi."

"She… thinks you're dead." Sakura said, suddenly very worried. "She looked so… empty, Kakashi-sensei. I-I don't even know what's keeping her moving."

He placed the kunai around his neck with the chain still attached to it and took off, feeling worry and a knot of excitement welling up in his stomach. I can see Shi again. He hurried off and decided to find Naruto, because where he was, Shi usually followed. Finding Naruto wasn't too hard though and, with no Shi in sight, Kakashi took it upon himself to catch Naruto as he collapsed in exhaustion.

"Good job." Kakashi said, earning a smile from Naruto.

"Kakashi!"

"Just hang on."

He did, but Kakashi could feel him fidgeting and gave him a look.

"A-Ah, sorry. Have you, um… have you seen Shi yet?"

"Not yet, no."

Naruto went quiet, making Kakashi slightly worried.

"Naruto, what happened after Shi found out about me?"

Naruto tensed and Kakashi could swear he felt the boy shiver on his back.

"She, uh… She was pissed and…"

"Naruto." Kakashi scolded, but before Naruto could answer, they walked out of the forest to the cheering of a crowd of villagers. Kakashi decided he'd drop the subject of Shi for now. "They've all been waiting for your return."

Naruto got off of Kakashi and dealt with the crazed villagers and an angry Sakura as well, who—after thanking Naruto—turned to Kakashi in worry.

"You need to find Shi. I don't know where she's gone and… I'm worried that she'll… because she doesn't know you're alive yet, that she'll…"

Kakashi nodded, patting her head with a smile. "Ah, don't worry."

He turned to go, but Sakura shouted one last thing at him.

"S-She really loves you, you know!"

Kakashi let out a short chuckle, waving over his shoulder. "Yeah. I know."

I was exhausted. I had changed in and out of my form too many times and after all the energy I used when I lost control, I was lucky to even have been standing for this long. I could hear the villagers a ways off, cheering for Naruto and I silently felt glad that he was finally being recognized, but I wasn't able to feel glad for long. I collapsed up against a tree, breathing hard and finally starting to feel the pain from the rods Pein had stabbed me with and his kick. My ribs are cracked and my abdomen is bruised badly. There's holes in each arm and leg that are still bleeding and… I cringed, looking over the damage. I've been running on pure adrenaline. I shouldn't have been able to walk, let alone save all those people.

I let out a long sigh, wincing when my ribs ached in protest, but relaxing against the tree and enjoying the silent sounds of the animal life returning to the forest now that the fighting had finished. I felt a tugging at my chakra and silently wondered if some shinobi had come across one of my marked kunai and was messing with it. I might as well flash them here. Save myself the trouble of collecting one of the kunai. I focused a bit, feeling my body ache at the thought of using chakra, before the shinobi was standing before me, though my eyes closed before I could see anything more than a green flak jacket.

"That's my kunai." I muttered, holding a shaky hand out blindly. "I'd like to have it back."

"That's certainly not the welcome back I was expecting." A familiar voice said, causing me to snap my eyes open, seeing a grinning Kakashi standing there. "Hello, Shi."

Impossible… but he was… I immediately tackled him to the ground and held a kunai to his throat, my own throat tight with possible tears.

"Who are you? Why the hell are you doing this? Who put you up to it?"

"Shi, it's me." He said, looking slightly worried at his predicament. "I'm alive."

No. He can't be. I-I saw his corpse! He was— "Don't lie! Kakashi's dead! I saw him! I-I carried his corpse!"

His eyes softened and he lifted a hand to brush the tear that had broken through my walls. "Oh, Shi. I'm so sorry."

The hand holding my kunai shook and my snarl quivered, before I pulled my fist back and punched him in the face.

"You! Y-You jerk!" I cried, dropping my kunai as he tried to recover from my punch. "You're supposed to be dead!"

He brought a hand to his bruising cheek. "And here I thought you'd be glad I wasn't." He quipped, moving his jaw around to feel out the damage.

I punched him in the chest, weakly, dropping my head as I cried. "H-How could you? I could've saved you. W-Why didn't you… You d-died."

"But I'm alive, Shi." He sat up a bit, me still straddling his waist, and kissed me through his mask on the forehead. "See? I'm okay. Though, the two of us should probably stop by a medic station. Then, you can tell me what happened."

I tensed, suddenly feeling disgusted with myself as I remembered what I'd become, and I pushed myself off Kakashi, looking away and shaking my head.

"No."

"Shi. Please."

I shook my head again, pressing my palm to my eye as the beast within me threw flashes of what I'd become through my head.

"No. I-I was… It was…"

Kakashi took my hand away from my face, looking at me seriously. "Shi, I will never think any differently of you, no matter what you do, because I know you're a good person. I know you were heartbroken when I died and I know that it would've been very tough on you. So it's okay to tell me. Because I will still love you."

I was hesitant, not wanting to share what had happened, but I spotted a familiar shaggy-looking God standing behind Kakashi and nodding, and I knew that it would be okay. That Kakashi was telling the truth and wouldn't leave me even if I had become a monster. So, I nodded and began to tell him what happened as we helped each other back to the village to get healed.

Kakashi and I slept together that night, just enjoying the comfort of each other's arms at his house, since my apartment was destroyed in what happened. After a good rest though, we were up and getting ready to help with repairs to the village.

"Kakashi, have you seen my—" I was cut off as Kakashi poked his head around the corner of the kitchen, holding up my silver scarf that I took from him with a small smile. "Thanks."

"Of course. We better hurry though, I'm sure the village could use your…" He paused, thinking of the right word. "…strength in helping repair things."

"It's kind of… odd." I said, catching his attention. "A beast who destroys being used to help with things like rebuilding a village."

Kakashi headed over and lowered his mask, kissing me lightly. "Like I said, Shi, it's because of the kindness of the person controlling it. Not the beast itself."

I kissed him back in agreement, before pulling away and pulling up my scarf as he did the same with his mask.

"You want to take Shoji? I haven't put up any marked kunai at the construction site." I asked.

"Sure. Though I suppose you should probably use your other summons, that way they can be used to help move things once we get there."

I nodded, a small smirk forming on my face. "Ah, I know just the guys."

Once we were outside, I summoned two of my summons, Masashi and Renji. I raised a brow as Kakashi stared up at them both with a sweat drop.

"What?"

"I just forgot that you have larger summons for a moment there." He said, before gesturing to them both. "Which one is mine?"

"You'll get Renji." I said, the brown work horse heading over and nudging Kakashi with its muzzle. "He's very mellow and easy to handle, even if you don't know what you're doing." I smiled. "So just get on and he'll do all the work."

Kakashi nodded and did just that, whereas Masashi had to kneel down on his front legs to allow me to even reach his back. Once we were on, I led the way over to the construction site, ignoring the looks and pointing fingers we were getting. The shinobi though, were more than glad to see that I brought such large animals to help with moving the wood and rubble. Kakashi wasn't comfortable with my summons just yet, other than Shoji, and I did tease him a bit about how he walked after getting off Renji, who snorted in amusement as well. He then waved me off to go check up on Naruto and them while I got one of the shinobi comfortable with leading Renji around. He was just one of those horses that was very laid-back and didn't mind who handled him. Masashi was pickier though and I was forced to lead him around myself. I did happen upon Kakashi and the others though and they were with Tazuna and Inari, oddly enough.

"W-Whoa…" Tazuna muttered out, looking up at Masashi as he snorted and pawed at the ground, a full load of timber being pulled along behind him.

"Hello, Tazuna. Inari." I said, looking at them both as I pulled Masashi off to the side to unload.

"That's, uh, one hell of a beast you got there." Tazuna commented.

"Y-Yeah. It's huge." Inari followed after, both comments causing Masashi to stomp his hoof down harshly as I frowned at the two of them.

"Don't call him a beast. Or an 'it'." I scolded, patting Masashi's long face. "He'll trample you."

They both paled and nodded before saying goodbye to everyone and wandering off. Naruto though, was very excited about this new summon and was right over there next to me in awe.

"Neh, Shi! This one's the biggest yet! Neh, neh, just how big is he, huh?"

Masashi rounded on Naruto and went to slam a heavy hoof down on his foot, but Naruto was quick to dodge.

"Ah! Shi! Why'd he do that?!"

I lifted another beam over my shoulder and gave him a bored look. "Because you called him fat."

"Huh?! No I didn't!" He paused, thinking over what he'd said and realized where it could've sounded like that, before stomping his foot childishly. "Argh! I didn't even call him fat! It's not my fault he's gigantic!"

Masashi turned his head towards Naruto and snorted in his face, causing him to fall on his butt in surprise as Masashi tossed his head proudly. I sighed, finishing unloading the wood and patting the horse's neck.

"Now you see why I couldn't just hand him over to a shinobi like Renji." I grumbled, gesturing over at Renji behind me as he pulled wood with a pleasant expression. "Masashi's very prideful."

Said horse relished in that comment and I pulled him away to continue working before a ninja suddenly ran up to me, out of breath.

"S-Shi?"

I nodded, looking over his panicked appearance in slight concern. This can't be good.

"Y-You're being summoned to the Hokage's tent. It's urgent!"

Hokage's tent? But she's in a coma… "Alright." I said, despite my previous thoughts. Orders are orders, and if it's urgent I better go.

I hurried to the Hokage's tent behind him, giving Masashi to another ninja—telling him to behave and I'll give him sugar cubes after—but once we got there, he bowed outside and left me to enter on my own. Usually I would knock, but it's a tent and I was unsure what to do for a moment, before I settled for announcing myself as I peeked in the tent.

"The, uh, Hokage summoned me?"

Inside was the still comatose Tsunade and Shizune.

"Ah, Shi!" Shizune exclaimed, ushering me in and fidgeting with a scroll in her hands. "I actually summoned you here to give you this."

She handed me the scroll and I gave it a glance before opening it and reading it through in surprise. When I finished, I looked up at her in confusion.

"What is this?"

Shizune stiffened up, becoming suddenly professional. "It's a position that Tsunade wanted to present you specifically."

"The position…" I looked down at the paper, finding the title. "…of Negotiator between the five shinobi nations?"

I was a bit surprised as Shizune nodded.

"Yes. She was going to ask you to take the position before… all of this. The paperwork has already been filed and the Daimyos have accepted it, even the new Hokage cannot do anything to change it."

"Who is the new Hokage?" I questioned, having known that they were going to replace Tsunade while she was in a coma, but not knowing who she'd be replaced with.

Shizune frowned. "Danzou. And he's already left for the Five Kage meeting, but I believe you should go too."

I raised a brow. "Is that wise? If he has gone with his bodyguards and I show up as another representative, the other Kage may feel threatened by the power Konoha has."

Shizune nodded. "That is true, however… there's a reason Tsunade picked you for this job. You are not from here, so technically, you have no loyalty to Konoha."

I frowned slightly. "While that is true, I do have a connection to the people here."

"But also the people of Sunagakure and a number of other smaller nations. Tsunade picked you, because you can help bring people together and are calm and patient enough to not get riled up should people begin arguing." Shizune started to look a little desperate now, something that I wasn't really comfortable dealing with. "You are the only one who could take this position, and right now, you are probably the only one who can stop an all-out war."

"Because of Danzou." I muttered and she nodded.

"He is… a part of the darker side of Konoha. He will stop at nothing to save the village, even if it means sacrificing everything it's made up of. Tsunade believed him to be suspicious, as you already know. With him in power now though, who knows what could happen. Tsunade probably knew something like this was going to happen, so… I believe she put it in the job description."

I raised a brow, but skimmed through the paper I had and spotted where it said that the Negotiator would travel to a Five Kage Summit, should there be one. She really did cover everything… there's just one thing I don't know yet.

I looked at Shizune and sweat dropped. "She made this position up, didn't she?"

Shizune flushed a little and turned away, scratching her cheek. "S-She did, but the Daimyos gave it permission, as did the other Kage, apparently. They believed it a good idea but, according to Tsunade, they doubted that anyone would be capable enough to fill the position. She… called them idiots for underestimating you, actually."

I smiled slightly at that and bowed. "I will accept the position and carry it out to the best of my abilities." I straightened and rubbed the back of my neck with a sigh. "Though I doubt Kakashi will be pleased."

Shizune chuckled a little and bowed back. "Thank you, Shi. If all goes well, I will inform Tsunade when she awakens and we will formally instate you." She stood up then, eyes serious. "But you should hurry. The meeting is to start as soon as all the Kage have gathered in the Land of Iron. The most it should take them is two days and be sure to take that scroll with you. It has the seals on it for all the required signatures that were needed to put you into this position, should anyone try to stop you once you're there."

I nodded, pocketing the scroll and bowing slightly as I walked out of the tent with another long sigh. Looks like I'll be heading out again. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong. I'd rather not be responsible for another war.

After I gathered any equipment I think I needed and I grabbed as much info about the Kage as I could, I went out to find Kakashi to let him know I was leaving. I checked the construction area, but no one had seen him, and when I checked his place, I frowned at the note left on the door.

Gone out to keep Naruto out of trouble.

Will be back in few days or a week.

Trying to convince Raikage to not kill Sasuke.

Wish me luck.

-Kakashi

I crumpled the note and groaned, shaking my head with a hand on my face.

"They're not even here and they're already making my new job worse." I groaned, before focusing my chakra and flashing to where Masashi was, scaring the crap out of the shinobi leading him.

"A-Ah! S-Shi… I assume you want your summon back?"

I nodded, taking the reins from Masashi and sighing a little. "Yeah, sorry. I have a mission."

"Oh. Well, don't worry about us." He smiled. "It was nice having them to help, but if you have a mission right now, then it must be important. So, um, good luck!"

I bowed my head, unhooking Masashi from the wood he was carrying and bringing him over to where Renji was resting. I pet Renji's forehead and gave him an apple from my bag, before sending him back and turning to Masashi.

"How are you with snow?"

He scoffed, shaking his head proudly. "I am the best for traveling in snow."

"That's good. We need to get to the Land of Iron and to the Five Kage Summit before they start a war." I sweat dropped. "You alright if we leave now?"

He tossed his large head into my shoulder playfully. "I was ready to leave ages ago. Put on my gear, and let's go."

I rolled my eyes at his over eagerness and summoned a thick blanket, a saddle, bit and reins, and warm padding to put on him and got to work. Once he was ready, I wasted no time getting us out and into the forest, hurrying in the direction of the Land of Iron.

"Masashi, it'll take us about a day and a half to get there, so we'll stop by a village to rest for the night and head out again in the morning. Sound good?"

"That's fine."

I nodded and laid low on his back as we got to a more open area and we hurriedly rode. We rode most of the day without running into anything of concern and as dusk settled and the snow started falling, we came upon a village to rest at. The villagers openly stared at my horse as I rode him over to an inn and moved him to the back of the building, leaving him with some apples from my pack and a large blanket to cover him, before booking a room and going up there to study up on the Kage. I removed my cloak and hung it up on the back of a chair before sitting on the ground beside the bed and pulling out the scrolls I had on the Kage.

I already knew Gaara and Danzou pretty well, so I moved on to the other three. Okay, let's see. The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki. Also known as Onoki of Both Scales. He was the Tsuchikage during the Third Great Shinobi War, so most likely very old-fashioned in his thinking and I wouldn't be surprised if he was stubborn as well, but with age comes experience and wisdom, so his advice could be useful. I put the scroll away after checking up on what jutsu he was known for, and then moved onto the next one.

Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage as Shizune mentioned could happen since the Fourth was already very old. There won't be much on her, but I grabbed what I could find. I skimmed through the smaller scroll and wasn't too displeased with what I found. Known for her Lava jutsus, that's good to know. A younger woman and seems relatively cheerful. She should be one of the easiest to deal with, though I don't doubt that she is probably good with politics, which is probably what got her to this position. I felt a bit better after that and moved on to the final scroll, but immediately felt discouraged at the size of it.

The Fourth Raikage, A. Younger brother is a jinchuriki, huh, so probably very protective over him or very hateful of him. Known for his massive physical power, speed, and lightning armor? Alright. Fought in the Third Shinobi War against us and… faced the Fourth Hokage? That's… not good. I sweat dropped with a sigh, pulling a hand through my hair. He'll be very thick skulled then. As I read further, I only grew more and more displeased and eventually tossed the scroll back in my pouch with a long sigh.

"This is not going to be easy." I grumbled to myself, before sealing my things up and climbing into bed and hoping to get at least some sleep before the dawn arose in a few hours.

Dawn approached and I groaned, rolling over and sitting up with a yawn, stretching my arms up above my head before getting out of bed and grabbing my things. I took a quick shower and ate some breakfast, then grabbed my scarf and wrapped it around the lower half of my face, inhaling Kakashi's scent that seemed to always linger on it, before heading downstairs. I bought some sugar cubes and carrots for Masashi and checked out of the inn. When I walked outside to get Masashi though, I was pleasantly surprised of the number of children gathered around him. They all spotted me and I took a hesitant step back as they all converged on where I was and surrounded me, asking me questions.

"Neh, is this your animal, mister?!"

"Does it have a name?!"

"It's really tall!"

"What does it eat?!"

"Does it fight?!"

"What do you do with it?!"

I fidgeted, not really sure what to do, other than answer their questions. Maybe then, they'll go away. I-I'm not really comfortable with this.

"He's mine. He's Masashi. He eats apples, carrots, sugar cubes, and grass. He doesn't fight really. I ride him."

They grew more excited and I looked over at Masashi in worry, but he just chuckled and I hesitantly picked my way out of the group of kids towards him with the bag of food, silently questioning how I was going to put all his gear back on with all these kids. That's when I came up with an idea.

"Do you… want to feed him?"

A majority of the kids took one look at him and shook their heads 'no', but there were a few who appeared brave enough to do so. I handed them a few pieces of carrots and showed them how to hold their hands out so they wouldn't lose a finger and, as they giggled and fed him carrots happily, I removed and put away the large blanket I had covered him with and began putting back on all the gear I took off. Once I finished, I climbed up onto his back and the children backed off with wide eyes, curious as I started to ride him out into the street where there was more room. For the most part, they kept their distance, knowing that getting too close would be dangerous, but there was one little girl who wandered up closer than the others and she spoke to me.

"A-Are you leaving now?"

I blinked, but nodded, tugging my cloak closer to me to drive off some of the cold. She looked upset about that though, and I felt a weight settle in my stomach. Guilt, I reminded myself. Looking down at her as she bowed her head sadly, I leaned down and held out a hand.

"Would you… like a small ride?"

She quickly looked up, eyes wide with a big grin on her face that reminded me a lot of Naruto's, before she took my hand and nodded.

"Un!"

I lifted her up and placed her in front of me, letting her hold the reins behind my hands, and we rode towards the gate in a light trot. The other kids laughed and played to the side of us, excitedly, and once we reached the gates, I helped the girl down. Masashi gave her his own goodbye, nudging her lightly with his muzzle, and with a small wave, we hurried off into the snow.

Masashi laughed at me for a good while though, making fun of my expression once we left and how amusing it was to see me get flustered over some 'foals', as he called them. I quickly told him to shut up, explaining how I wasn't used to dealing with kids very much, but he just laughed and said I'd get used to it if Kakashi and I ever mated, which put a bright red flush on my cheeks; and it wasn't from the cold.

"S-Says you! I don't exactly know about any little furry hooved foals running around you!"

He chuckled. "I have two, both boys."

That shut me up pretty fast and our conversation died out as we grew closer to the summit. Once there, I jumped off Masashi, smelling a familiar person that I knew was going to make my job even harder than it already was, and I groaned; thanking Masashi for his help and telling him to wait for me just inside the forest nearby should I need him. I then felt a deep rumble and, in a split second decision, I transformed into my beast form and hurried towards the building as it began to fall apart.

Doing my best to grab some samurai as I ran towards Gaara's scent, I dove under the large pieces of the building as it tumbled down. I even managed to grab two others, whose scents I didn't recognize and toss them under me just as I stopped and caught a rather large pile of rubble on my back over Gaara and his group. Once the building had stopped collapsing, I shrugged off the rubble and gave Gaara and the other's a small grin, canines peeking out.

"Looks like I'm a bit late, sorry."

They all stared at me in shock, until Gaara spoke.

"…Shi?"

I blinked, before I realized why they were all looking at me. "Oh, right." I transformed back and waved with a dull expression. "Yo."

Kankuro pointed at me with his mouth gapping open. "Y-You!"

"Me." I stated back, before looking over at the samurai I picked up and the other two, finally recognizing one of them. "Ah, I picked up the Raikage…"

He didn't look too pleased and he stood up with an angry look on his face. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Shi."

He grew even redder in the face. "I know that! What are you doing here?!"

"Ah, perhaps we should go find the other Kage before I explain that?" I said, pointing towards where I could smell the other scents.

"We have to find that Uchiha first!"

I took a deep sniff, closing my eyes, before looking at him. "It's too late. He's already run off. Though…" I sniffed again. "Looks like he's heading up to the other Kage anyway. Shall we?"

He got up and grabbed me by the front of my cloak, furious. "We don't even know who you are! You could be one of them!"

Gaara stepped up then. "No. I know her. She's a messenger of Konoha."

"Ah…" I raised a finger towards the ceiling. "Negotiator, actually. New position."

"What?!" The Raikage shouted, before I gave him a bland look, already tired of this position despite having just started.

"Could we possibly argue about this later? I smell molten rock." I said, hoping to convince the Raikage to let me go, as I wrinkled my nose at the smell.

He frowned, but dropped me. "C, watch him." He ordered, before we all hurried up towards the stairs to reach the other Kage.

Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro all ran up beside me and Gaara questioned me curiously.

"Why are you here, Shi? Danzou already has the required two bodyguards. If you are here with him, then this could cause complications."

"I am aware." I muttered, glancing at him. "As I said, I am now in the… unique position of Negotiator. The last order Tsunade gave out, it seems. I will never work under Danzou."

"But isn't he the new Hokage? What about orders?" Gaara asked, making my lip twitch up in a smile, though he couldn't see it.

"I'm not originally from Konoha." I told him. "My loyalty lies only with myself, though… I protect those I care about as well, majority of which are in Konoha. But technically, I am a neutral party."

"Che." We turned to the front, where the Raikage clicked his tongue. "Neutral party, sounds to me like you're a pest that Konoha uses to its advantage."

I shrugged, not taking offense really. "Think what you wish, though I don't doubt you would do the same in their position."

We then came upon a rather large hole in the wall and headed in, seeing one young man on the ground in something white and rubble in the center of the room, along with a cube in the wall and a smashed desk.

"Guess I was really late." I muttered, glancing over the damage as Gaara ordered Kankuro to free the young man and some samurai in the white goop.

"Where's Sasuke?!" The Raikage ordered, glancing over at an older man, who I recognized as the Tsuchikage.

"I smashed him to bits." He grinned, upsetting the Raikage.

"What?! That was my job! How dare you!"

I picked up a new scent then and reached for a kunai should it be another enemy, though I wasn't too sure what to make of the man who just appeared in the room with an unconscious Sasuke over his shoulder.

"You still have a chance. So quit your whining, Raikage."

"Sasuke!" I heard a girl not far from me call out, the look she had reminding me a lot of Sakura's.

"My name is Madara Uchiha." The orange masked man said, though I raised a brow in question.

Really? He's supposed to be dead and with a mask on, there's no way of confirming that. A name can hold a lot of power. Who's to say he's not just using it to prove a point?

"I'm here to explain something to you. I just want to make that clear." He said, but I still didn't remove my hand from my kunai.

"What?!" The Raikage shouted, no doubt upset with the amount of people showing up out of the blue.

"I want to tell you about my goal. The Moon's Eye Plan."

The Raikage seemed to ignore the man for a moment. "Looks like C was right and the Hokage got away!"

"Yes." The Tsuchikage said, catching on. "Thanks to Sasuke."

Just then, the Raikage moved, a lightning laced punch already directly in front of the enemy's face, but the Raikage just slipped right through him, just as Sasuke disappeared into, what appeared to be, the man's only visible eye. How… Where does Sasuke go? And to be able to just phase out like that… A million questioned ran rampant through my mind, but I shoved them away for later. I needed to focus for right now. This was an Akatsuki member I didn't know about from Jiraiya. So information gathering was important, not to mention the protecting of the Kage; though I was sure they could generally protect themselves.

"No plan of the Akatsuki can be anything good! Don't bother explaining!" The Raikage growled. "Bring Sasuke back!"

"Then listen to me." The man said, my mind still not wanting to call him Madara until I could confirm it. "And depending on your answer, I might."

I stepped forward then, making the Raikage turn to me in frustration as I spoke. "We should listen. He might be able to give us something useful, Raikage."

"Why you—"

The Tsuchikage joined me on that, hovering in the air with his hands behind his back. "Calm down, Raikage. She is right. It won't hurt to listen to him."

He clicked his tongue and we watched as this 'Madara' person took in the woman who had been on the floor as well, but I my ears picked up on Kankuro and Temari's conversation.

"So that's Madara's power…"

"He can manipulate the time-space continuum."

Time-space continuum? So, he sent Sasuke and that girl into another space where time is… altered somehow? And he appeared in a similar manner, so could he just be pulling himself in and out of this space quickly enough for people to phase through him? I shook my head of my thoughts again and tried to focus as this 'Madara' person jumped up on a raised portion of the wall.

"Now, are you willing to listen to me, ladies and gentlemen?"

"Ladies and gentlemen?" Gaara questioned, as did I.

Respect? Hm, odd fellow.

"It's rare for anyone to awaken Susanoo. I like to stockpile good eyes. I wanted him to improve his skills in a battle with the five Kage. That's why I sent him here."

So he's the leader of the Akatsuki. No wonder Jiraiya didn't have anything on him. He never revealed himself. Just stayed behind the scenes. Though I think Jiraiya mentioned an Akatsuki with an orange mask before. Something about him being an idiot, but I can't remember what his name was…

"I also thought to weaken the Kage and take them hostage, but it looks like that's still out of reach."

At least I know for sure now that he's an enemy. I mentally sighed.

"Hostage? What for?!" Shouted the Mizukage.

"To make my Moon's Eye Plan go more smoothly."

"I can't believe Madara Uchiha is really still alive." The Tsuchikage grumbled. "Why is someone of your caliber going about this in such a roundabout manner? As powerful as you are, you should be able to execute any plan without a hitch."

Only further proving my theory that he's not Madara. What was that orange-masked guys' name?! I remember seeing it in a file somewhere, but passed it by because all Jiraiya wrote was that he was an idiot.

"The wound inflicted by the First Hokage Hashirama was too great. I am now a mere shell of my former self."

So, he either knows the stories of Madara and guessed, or Madara is alive and he's just using this information as his own, or he actually is Madara. I need more information.

"So this… is a plan to return you to your former strength?" C asked.

"Hm, you could say that, but that's not all."

"What are you plotting?!" A man I recognized as the head of the samurai questioned. "Just what is this Moon's Eye Plan?!"

"I want to take my time explaining, have a seat." 'Madara' said, sitting down himself.

"He asked what the plan was!" Kankuro shouted in anger, but the man just wagged a finger.

Gosh, his name! T something. Taki, Toshi, Toru…

"Everything will become one with me! It will be perfect union. I will be complete."

"What do you mean?" I asked, making him turn to me, along with the others, myself already seated on top of a desk with my head resting on my palm, elbow on my knee as I sat cross-legged.

"…You are not a Kage, nor a bodyguard."

I shook my head. "No, but I am curious."

He was silent for a moment, before explaining. "An ancient stone tablet had been passed down through the Uchiha clan for generations. Even now it lies beneath Konoha. Carved upon it are the secrets of the Sage of Six-Paths. Only those with eye powers can read them. More can be decoded if read in order with the sharingan, mangekyo sharingan, and Rinnegan."

"The Sage of Six-Paths is nothing but a fairytale." The Tsuchikage said, but I decided to contradict him a bit.

"But all fairytales are based on something real." I said, making him eye me suspiciously.

"As she said. However, he really did exist. And he left behind this tablet."

"You changed the subject!" The Raikage shouted, getting angry and jumping down from his place in the wall. "What does the Sage of Six-Paths have to do with your plan?!"

'Madara' remained calm. "Do you know why he became a legend and came to be worshipped as a God by the ninjas? That is the connection between this man and my plan."

"Madara Uchiha, you have the mangekyo sharingan and there was someone in the Akatsuki with the Rinnegan. You know everything, don't you?" The Mizukage asked as the Tsuchikage came down and landed on the floor as well.

"Tell us."

"He once saved the world from a monster."

"Gaara, a part of that monster was sealed within you. It is a fusion of all the tailed-beasts… and possesses the strongest chakras ever. The ten-tailed beast, the Jubi."

I tensed, thinking of my own beast inside me. Am I also a part of this Jubi somehow? But I was created by… Orochimaru. So… I'm not?

"There's a beast with more tails than the Kyuubi?!"

"I just told you, it is a fusion of all nine beasts. The nine tailed-beasts are nothing more than a division of the Jubi's chakras, and the Sage of Six-Paths is the one who did it."

"I don't like where this is headed." Kankuro muttered. "So is that why Akatsuki has been gathering the tailed-beasts?"

"In order to protect the world from the Jubi, the Sage of Six-Paths developed a new jutsu. The jutsu is still in use today as the Host Seal system. Yes, the Sage of Six-Paths was the Jubi's host. He sealed the Jubi within his own body in order to control it."

So… what was that stupid Akatsuki's name?…Gosh, why does my mind pick now to decide not to work?

"The scale is too huge, could any one man really do all that?" One of the Raikage's bodyguards questioned.

"Having become the Jubi's host, the Sage of Six-Paths was already more than human."

"I understand that you want to gather the beasts in order to gain their inhuman power." Said the leader of the samurai. "But what will you do with that power?"

"I will revive the Jubi and then I will become its host." 'Madara' explained. "With its power, I will be able to strengthen my eyes. And then I will be able to use a certain jutsu."

"Certain jutsu?" I questioned. "You said strengthen your eye powers, so what? A Genjutsu of some kind?"

'Madara' turned to me in what I could only assume was curiosity. "You are… correct in a way. It is the most powerful illusion ever, the ability to project my eyes onto the moon. Mugen Tsukiyomi. Then I will be able to cast an illusion over everyone on Earth! I will control everyone with my illusion and the world will become one!"

I raised a brow. "Becoming a God? Sounds stressful."

He chuckled lightly. "A world without ill will or strife. Everything will be one in me. Everything will be united. Stress will be nonexistent! That is my Moon's Eye Plan."

"You must be kidding!" The Raikage shouted. "I won't just hand over the world to you!"

Gaara spoke next, a lot calmer than him, but not looking any less angry.

"Peace under an illusion is not true peace. It's only meaningful if the real world manages to accomplish it."

"What does that hold for us?!" The Mizukage yelled. "There's no hope or dreams! It's just an escape!"

"Make the world one? Danzou said something similar, but…in your case, it sounds more like you just want to make the world yours." The Tsuchikage said.

'Madara' laughed. "Hahaha, and what have you Five Kage been able to accomplish? You must understand, that there is no hope! Hope is nothing more than resignation… that is what is not real. Give me the Hachibi and the Kyuubi and cooperate with my plan. If not, it will be war."

"War?"

"The Hachibi? What do you mean?! You already took Bee!" The Raikage shouted, talking about his brother, was my guess. Likes him then, that's good.

"We failed to capture the Hachibi. He is the perfect host. I'd expect nothing less of your brother."

The Raikage's bodyguards sighed and mentioned how they had a feeling, but the Raikage himself didn't look too pleased.

"That fool! He used this as an excuse to leave the village and gallivant about! I won't let him get away with this!"

"Ah, Tobi." I said, drawing everyone's attention once more, though they were all confused except this 'Madara'. "You're Tobi, right?"

He stared at me for a while before speaking. "I was once called Tobi while in the Akatsuki, but I am Madara Uchiha."

"Hm." I hummed, still not thoroughly convinced. "Alright, but I'm calling you Tobi."

The staring contest continued for a moment longer—myself not looking directly at his eye for obvious reasons—before Gaara spoke up, catching Tobi's attention once more.

"I won't let you take Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Me, either!" The Mizukage said, followed by the Tsuchikage.

"What about you, Raikage?"

"You won't have my brother!"

I sighed, but nodded. "Naruto is my friend, so I can't let you take him."

"I may not have any power myself, but I have the power of the beasts I've gathered. You don't stand a chance." Tobi said, though no one in the room seemed discouraged.

"We won't give up hope." Gaara replied.

"Alright. Consider this a declaration of war. The Fourth Ninja War begins now."
"The Fourth Great Shinobi War?"

"Are you serious?!"

I raised a brow. "I doubt he'd just be joking."

He nodded. "Yes. I am not joking. Next time we meet, it will be on the battlefield." He then turned to me. "Perhaps I will see you again…"

He seemed to be waiting for something, and I nodded.

"Shi." I said.

"Shi…" He muttered, before he sucked himself into his own time-space void and disappeared.

"Dear me, what now?" The Tsuchikage muttered after a moment's pause.

"We must form a shinobi alliance." Gaara replied. "There is no other way to oppose the power of seven bijuu."

The Raikage stayed oddly silent and the Mizukage pointed it out.

"I recall you were against the idea, Raikage?"

"It seems no harm has come to my brother, but I refuse to allow the Akatsuki to have their way with us any longer! We form a shinobi alliance and settle this as quickly as possible!"

Sounds good to me. I mentally thought, yawning silently from my place on the desk as the Tsuchikage spoke up.

"What of Konoha? The Hokage has fled the scene."

I waved my hand. "Oh, leave that to me."

The Tsuchikage raised a brow, everyone turning back to me and seeming to just then remember I was there.

"And who might you be?"

"That's right!" The Raikage shouted angrily. "Explain now!"

I held my hands up in a shrug. "I already told you, Raikage, I'm a Negotiator."

He glared at me. "I don't care what you call yourself! The Kazekage said you were from Konoha! The dark rumors surrounding Danzou are too great! It's obvious he was trying to break the rules of the summit by bringing a third bodyguard!"

"Actually, I'm not with Danzou. I am also not a Konoha representative, as I told you in the hall." I said, pulling out the scroll and tossing it to him. "Perhaps this will clear things up."
He frowned and opened it, scanning the contents with wide eyes, before turning to me angrily.

"This is an outrage!"

I stayed blank faced as he passed the scroll over and headed towards me, grabbing me by my shirt once more.

"You cannot be a Negotiator, because you are obviously allied with Konoha!"

The Tsuchikage nodded, passing the scroll over as well. "That seems to be the case, though I am confused as to why the Fifth Hokage would have placed you in such a position while knowing this."

I peeked around the Raikage holding up a hand dully. "Ah, that's actually because I'm not from Konoha. As I told the Raikage and Gaar—The Kazekage—I actually came into Konoha years ago with no previous memory of where I came from before that. The only reason I stayed there was to get some ninja training and even then, my allegiance lies only with myself and those I wish to protect. Tsunade—the Fifth Hokage—knows this and thus placed me in this position."

The Mizukage nodded, looking only slightly bothered as she handed the scroll over to Gaara. "We did all agree for the position to be made. Our seals are on the scroll as are the Daimyos. Though I would have never expected someone to actually be qualified for the position."

The Tsuchikage bowed his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I agree. Raikage, release her. The position is legitimate."

The man grumbled but let me go and I rolled my neck.

"Thank you. Now, you mentioned what to do now that Danzou fled?" I questioned. "If you want, I could pass along the information to someone to bring back to the village. I have no doubt that his position will be revoked once the village hears about this."

Gaara nodded. "I will come along with you. Who did you plan on telling?"

"Kakashi." I said. "Kakashi Hatake."

"The son of the White Fang?" The Tsuchikage questioned and the Raikage seemed to consider this for a moment before agreeing.

"Very well. He seems more trustworthy than Danzou, at least. And with you there, Kazekage, there is someone to keep an eye on this… Negotiator."

I mentally rolled my eyes at his stubbornness and lightly shrugged as his bodyguard, C, spoke up.

"Raikage-sama, we must make arrangements right away to track down Killer Bee! If the Akatsuki's targets are the Hachibi and the Kyuubi, then they must still be pursuing Killer Bee with all their might!"

"Quite!" The Raikage agreed. "C, select a search party at once and contact the village so that they can begin the search!"

"Yes, sir!"

"We should let Team Samui know about this right away too." His other body guard said. "Omoi and Karui were seriously down about all this."

"In order to put a stop to Madara's Moon Eye Plan, we must on no account permit him to obtain the Hachibi or the Kyuubi." The Mizukage said. "As such, it seems more president for our shinobi alliance to locate the Hachibi and the Kyuubi before he can do so, and hide them away from him."

I worried about whether I should tell them about my own beast and if so, when. I mean, I was made as some sort of weapon too, from what I know. And the beast did mention that I was made to kill the jinchuriki. So I must be more powerful than any of them. But… does that make me a jinchuriki too? And, while I can control the one form, I can't control the other one. I can try, but even I know that it'll be tough and if the Akatsuki find out about me, then training will be a bit tough. I frowned slightly under my scarf and got the gist of what the Kage were talking about as far as whether or not to use the jinchuriki in the war. That goes for me as well… But something tells me that Naruto won't just sit back and watch. And from what they're saying, neither will Killer Bee. They already agreed on finding them and protecting them, so I didn't really have a say as the Raikage began splitting everyone up.

"I will share our information on Killer Bee with the Rock, Mist, Sand, and Leaf villages. I suggest that search teams be organized and mobilized immediately! Once the Hachibi is found, I suggest that you send that information to me. I am probably the only person to whom my brother will actually listen! And Kazekage, I trust you will handle the task of passing all this on to Kakashi along with… Shi."

"Yes."

"Sure thing." I said.

"I met with Kakashi Hatake and the Kyuubi jinchuriki on the way to the summit. They may still be somewhere in the Iron Country. We should begin our search for them from there." The Raikage said, and I waved again.

"Actually, I'm a tracker, so I can find them right away. It won't be a problem, but…" I decided that it would be now or never to tell them. "There is something I should probably share with you, since we're discussing the jinchuriki."

They all raised a brow, but Gaara and the Raikage seemed to understand and they both frowned.

"While I am not one, I do have something extremely powerful sealed within me. Something that I can control to an extent."

"Something?" The Mizukage questioned, and I nodded, hopping off of the desk and taking a few steps back before transforming into my beast form.

"This is the only form I can completely control." I told them, taking in their shocked faces as I transformed back. "There is one other that I know of and it is powerful enough to potentially… take down a jinchuriki."

"What?!"

I gazed sternly at the Raikage, causing him to startle in surprise. "If you would let me explain, it would be appreciated."

He stayed quiet and I let out a deep breath before going into more detail.

"I was an experiment of Orochimaru's for two years before I managed to find a way to Konoha. I do not know what his purpose was, other than to use me as a tool to take over the villages and attack the jinchuriki. The beast within me has mentioned that I was made to kill them, but I have enough control over him that he will not become a problem unless someone very dear to me is killed, something which happened not long ago when Pain attacked Konoha. I was able to restrain it again however, and it has the potential to be controllable."

"And the Akatsuki, do they know about this?"

I shook my head. "The Third and Fifth Hokage have been very adamant about information regarding it not reaching anywhere outside the village. I myself did not know about it until a year after arriving in Konoha. And have since trained diligently to make sure it remains under my control in its first form. And while I understand your concern for the jinchuriki staying out of the war and how it will also probably apply to me as well, I wish for you to understand that I will not be able to just sit back and watch my friends be killed while I am protected. I am sure the same applies to Naruto and… Killer Bee as well."

"Che, it's a shame it's not up to you then, huh?" The Raikage scoffed. "You will also remain under protection once the war has started."

I stayed silent, glaring at him half-heartedly, knowing that there was no way that was going to happen with me, Naruto, or his brother, but knowing better than to voice it out loud and start an argument.

"E-Erm, could I ask something?" The shy looking bodyguard of the Mizukage questioned the Raikage.

"What is it?"

"Well, ah… You see… erm…"

"Spit it out!"

"A-Amongst the Akatsuki's remaining members, is Kisame Hoshigaki, a member of the Seven Swordsmen like myself. That man possess chakra on the level of a jinchuriki and Samehada, the most terrible of all the Seven Swordsmen's blades. Put him and that blade together, and you have a human who is able to wield every bit as much power as a jinchuriki. Effectively a bijuu without a tail. That is what my senpai have told me. He is a special case. You must be sure not to underestimate him."

"We are quite aware of that!" The Tsuchikage grumbled. "At any rate, is this all really acceptable? The power of the seven bijuu that Madara will be sending against us is a huge unknown quantity. Even if we do secure the Hachibi and the Kyuubi and protect them with the force of our alliance, if that alliance is annihilated, it will all have been meaningless. That's why I say, it would be more advantageous to us if we were to send the two of them and Shi into battle from the start, working alongside the alliance's forces."

"Are you sure about that?" The samurai leader asked. "We see here before us the formation of the first ever true shinobi alliance. Its power too, is a huge unknown quantity. Madara himself is taking a great risk using the power of the seven bijuu in this way. If it were no risk, then he would not have gone to the trouble of coming here and attempting to negotiate. It would seem that the situation is not entirely in his favor. Furthermore, they have no knowledge of Shi's ability should we attempt to use her and we samurai too, will take part in this battle! Tsuchikage-dono, are you still worried despite all of this?"

I spoke up once more. "Perhaps then, we should use them when we need it most. Not necessarily at the beginning. It would be like a normal battle. Saving your trump card for a moment when the enemy is weakest or unexpecting."

He glanced at me cautiously. "Perhaps, but now is not the time to think up battle strategies when the war hasn't even begun."

I nodded, bowing my head and returning to silence. He was right, after all. I was getting a bit ahead of myself.

"Now that Danzou's gone, who will lead the alliance?!" Raikage suddenly demanded.

"Are any of us Kage suitable? You're the one who dismissed us all before, Mifune."

I raised a hand. "May I make a suggestion?"

All eyes went to me, giving me a chance due to my new position, I suppose.

"I believe the Raikage would be suitable."

"I agree." Mifune said.

"I thought you said the Raikage was too emotional?" The Tsuchikage questioned to something that probably happened before I got here.

"Now that we know the Hachibi is alive, I think the Raikage will be able to keep himself under control. I take back my hasty judgments. Please forgive me."

"And you, Shi?"

I glanced over at the Raikage and back at the Tsuchikage. "Well, while he does have a temper, it's like Mifune said. He's calmed down significantly now that he knows about his brother. That, and he was the first to come up with a plan and has already taken the lead. Probably helps that he can control his brother."

"Mizukage, Kazekage, what do you think?"

"This isn't time for in-fighting. I trust the Raikage."

"As do I."

Eyes went back to the Tsuchikage as the Raikage spoke.

"It's up to you. You're the only one who's fought Madara Uchiha. I need your intel. Join me!"

"You always think you can just order us around." The Tsuchikage grumbled.

"I don't care if you trust me or not, but at this rate, the entire ninja world will be destroyed. Now is the time to set personal grudges aside and join forces!"

"I guess it's better than losing the war. If the ninja world is destroyed, my opinions of you won't matter. I'll join you."

Everyone was smiling at that, but I wasn't. I was too busy rolling my eyes with a sigh, thinking that everyone here were acting like children with their little grudges and complaints. Like a kid who's had his favorite toy broke and still complains about it years later.

"The ninja alliance is formed! First we must talk with the Daimyos."

They went to do that, leaving me with the bodyguards outside and I whistled, calling Masashi out of the woods and startling the guys around me, including Temari and Kankuro; the two of them having seen Shoji, but not Masashi.

"Holy crap! What is that thing?!" Kankuro shouted loudly as Masashi pawed a hoof in the snow.

I gave him a glance, passing a hand over Masashi's forehead. "His name is Masashi. He's a horse. Like Shoji."

Temari stared at Masashi with a sweat drop. "Even your other horse didn't look like that…"

"I-It's not dangerous, is it?" Chojuro questioned hesitantly as Darui muttered quietly to himself.

"It could crush my face in…"

I shrugged, before Masashi knelt down and I hopped on his back. "Only if you're under his feet. He's more for fast travel, work, and height advantage. Not fighting."

The Kage came out then and stared rather blatantly at Masashi, who eyed the Raikage like a threat. I could practically hear Masashi sizing him up in his thoughts before I turned him around and nodded my head outwards.

"Shall we go?"

Gaara nodded, not appearing the least bit surprised by Masashi and the other Kage shook it off before we all went our separate ways.

"Shi."

I glanced to my left where Gaara jumped from branch to branch. "Hm?"

"If necessary, I will have to kill Sasuke."

I nodded, slowly. "I know."

"Do you… care?" He asked and I let out a long breath.

"It's not that I don't care. I… Didn't know him well. We were more acquaintances than friends, but we were teammates. I don't want him to die if it can be avoided, but I understand why it may need to happen."

"You are very… wise, Shi." Gaara said, making me let out a short laugh.

"No. I've never been wise or smart. I just…" I frowned slightly, holding Masashi's reins a little tighter. "I know a little of what he's going through. Sasuke and I are similar."

"I see."

"If I could…" I went on, glancing over at Gaara, pulling down my scarf with a small, sad smile. "I hope I will be the one to kill him. Because… Kakashi and Naruto and Sakura… they're all suffering and I don't want that to be their burden anymore."

We drifted into silence and I picked up Naruto's scent nearby, letting the trio behind me know before they landed in front of Kakashi, Naruto, and Yamato; myself pulling Masashi to a halt behind them. They were a little surprised to see us, but they only grew more surprised when Temari and Gaara explained what happened at the Five Kage Summit.

"I see… I had no idea the summit had turned into such a battleground… but Danzou…"

"I wasn't really into the whole Hokage thing, but even if I have no choice now…" Kakashi said, looking a bit upset. "I still have to get back to Konoha and ask everyone what they think."

"Madara said he was going to start a war." Temari replied. "This is no time to take things slow."

Yamato nodded. "I think everyone will agree, let's continue as if you were Hokage, Kakashi-senpai. It's too dangerous to take out time and let the Akatsuki and Madara get the upper hand."

"Well, I guess you're right. Thanks."

I raised a hand, leaning lazily over Masashi as he searched under the snow for grass to chew on. "Question? Since when was Kakashi nominated for Hokage? I didn't get to vote."

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Uh, it was when Tsunade was put in a coma. I only got word of it recently that the representatives asked for me to be Hokage, but Danzou was chosen. I… don't think you get to vote, Shi."

I frowned. "No fun."

The group turned towards Naruto then and I sighed quietly, knowing that he was pretty upset about Sasuke.

"…So about Sasuke…"

Yamato sighed. "If he attacked the summit…"

"Naruto." Gaara spoke up, seriously. "Just so you know, this will be a war to protect the Hachibi and the Kyuubi. In other words, you. Shi has also been added into this group—"

I raised my hand again. "Not of my own will, mind you."

Gaara ignored me and went on. "For the sake of the ninja world, and as Kazekage, I will guard you with my life. If as a member of Akatsuki, Sasuke Uchiha stands in the way of the ninja coalition, I will show no mercy."

Naruto clenched his eyes shut and I sighed quietly.

"Sasuke doesn't even see you. He longs only for his own darkness." Gaara explained, worrying Naruto. "Naruto, you told me you would become Hokage. I have become Kazekage." He walked forward and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "If you are prepared to bear the title of Kage, then do what you must as Sasuke's friend."

Naruto took a moment, but used his arm to push Gaara's off, making me frown. He's having a tough time and I get that, but he needs to understand that he's not the only one trying to carry this burden. Gaara, Sakura, Kakashi, and even myself. None of us actually want to kill him, but if one life means saving hundreds of thousands, then…

"We've said what we came to say. Let's go, Gaara." Temari said, stopping us all. "We're heading back to our village now. Kakashi Hatake, Suna will act on the assumption that you are Hokage. I pray there won't be any miscommunication."

"Roger." Kakashi replied, as I stretched and straightened up on Masashi.

"I better head back to the village then and pass along the information about Danzou. I'd stay, but I believe I will be of more use there dealing with the flow of information."

Kakashi nodded. "That'd probably be best."

I bobbed my head back, turning Masashi so that I was facing the forest, glancing over my shoulder at Kakashi.

"Stay safe."

He smiled at me. "You too."