Same warning as before, except now there is no more Hidan, so any new swears are because everyone has a bit of a potty mouth.

Itachi

Despite what he was told, Itachi knew that Sasuke had survived Deidara's… ahem… protectively explosive reaction to his possible death. He was touched by the blond's protectiveness towards him and completely understood his reasoning… but Itachi felt like he needed to give Deidara a long talk about all of this.

If he survived the fight he was currently having with his brother.

Itachi was short of going easy on Sasuke as his brother was relentlessly attacking him. Itachi hadn't taken his medication for the last several days and his vision was fading, but even with these drawbacks, Sasuke was still struggling to keep up with him. Itachi wasn't even using his alchemy.

No, if he used alchemy at any point, Sasuke could very well die. This was a fight to make Sasuke prepared to return to Konoha a hero and avenge their clan… and also keep Madara far away from Sasuke.

All Itachi is hoping is that Sasuke takes the Philosopher's Stone when he dies... that stone should allow him to use alchemy… it better.

Itachi felt pride swell in his aching chest. Sasuke had invented such a powerful jutsu from a secondary chakra nature just for this battle. Sasuke finally surpassed him, he could die knowing that his brother would be all right… he just needed to do one last thing.

Itachi slowly walked towards his brother, Susano-o sending shockwaves of pain after pain into his body with each step to where for the last few steps he deactivated it. He reached his hand out as Sasuke stared at him in complete fear, trapped behind a wall and no more chakra left to defend himself. Itachi reached for his brother's face…

And poked his forehead.

"Forgive me, Sasuke… this is it," Itachi rasped out weakly, letting his bloodied hand run down Sasuke's face and collapse on the ground and the world going dark.

Sasuke remained still, staring at his brother's smiling face as rain pelted down on both of them. The world slowly began to spin and he too collapsed on the ground beside Itachi. But as his eyes began to close with his body finally relaxing, he spots something white flying above them… and getting closer. Suddenly, he didn't feel like passing out anymore.

"Itachi!" A male voice came from the bird, Deidara's form leaping off of it and landing by the Uchiha brothers. Deidara made an effort to stomp with his full weight on Sasuke's stomach, earning the blond a bloody cough from the teen. "Tch, of course, you survived that damn explosion, un."

Deidara knelt down beside Itachi and Sasuke watched the blood examine his brother's body with frantic hands, checking for a pulse or physical reaction by slapping him across the face.

"Come on… you can't die now…" Deidara began to give chest compressions to Itachi, panicking as medical ninjutsu was never his strong point. "Think think think… need to get his heart started again, think- Oh… Itachi, you sneaky weasel, un."

Deidara grinned and reached for Itachi's necklace, easily plucking the bright red stone and holding it delicately between his pointer and middle finger. "This will do, un." Letting his right palm mouth carry the stone, Deidara clapped his hands together.

Bright red sparks flew out around the blond and he puts his hands over Itachi's chest and head. The energy from the Philosopher's Stone sparked through and began to repair damages done to Itachi's body. Wounds began to heal, blood pumping through his veins and neurons of the brain sped through his body to alert every cell that it was not time to die yet. Deidara also discovered a nasty little disease sitting happily in the Uchiha's lungs and promptly decided that he was going to evict the freeloaders right away.

Itachi began to breathe again. His eyes remained closed and his pulse weak, but a few pokes determined that Itachi was not going to die again.

Deidara kept the Philosopher's Stone inside his palm mouth for safekeeping, sensing killing intent nearby. He carefully helped the weakened Uchiha to his feet, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and began to drag him away to the bird.

"Sasuke…"

Deidara stopped, looked at Itachi, then looked at the conscious teenager lying on the ground. He looked back at Itachi, noticed his eyes were barely open and proceeded to let out an "I am so done with these guys"-type groan.

"I am not treating the kid nicely, un," Deidara proclaimed loudly in Itachi's ears, who did little more than giving a weak smile. The bomber groaned again and reached down and grabbed the front of Sasuke's stupid excuse of a shirt and not-so-gently hoisted him half up. "This kid is wearing less and less every time I encounter him."

Deidara reached his bird and while he waited for the creature's mouth to open he began to look at his surroundings. Something inside him froze in fear when a figure swirled and left behind nothing on distant a rock, he could have sworn he saw orange.

Deidara didn't waste another second chucking Sasuke into his clay bird's gaping maw and had it clamp shut on the boy. He'll be safe in there. He then quickly jumped onto the bird, letting Itachi rest in front of him and took off to find a safe location.

In the far distance, Deidara heard a tree blow up. Funny, he didn't recall sending anything over there.

Xxxxx00000xxxxx00000

When Itachi woke up, all he felt was pain. It was not agony… more like a soreness that wouldn't go away. He took a long, slow breath and marveled at how clear his lungs felt. There was no pressure, no rumble in his chest. In fact, his eyes never felt better as he stared at the dark cave ceiling…

Wait… why wasn't he dead?

Itachi slowly sat up, barely able to support himself halfway and his eyes locked on a figure with their back turned to him. The figure was male with blond hair tied back into a familiar braid and wearing black clothing… the figure clapped their hands and Itachi watched blue sparks form.

"Ed?" Itachi called out.

The figure turned, instead of the expected golden eye, he saw one bright blue eye and the other closed shut. Nope, not Ed, definitely not Ed.

"Oh, good I was worried I was still recognizable, un." Deidara stood up, brushing off the dirt from his pant legs and approached the Uchiha with fresh bandages.

"How…?"

"I used the Philosopher's Stone to restart your heart and remove the disease that was killing you…" Deidara reached over and began replacing the bandages on Itachi's forearm. "Why didn't you tell us about your lungs? I'm sure Hoenheim would have been more than willing to heal you, un."

Itachi sighed.

"Kisame knew… as did Edward… and Riza…"

"Meaning by the time we left the entire upper branch of their military knew, un," Deidara muttered bitterly. "Of course, stupid Uchihas and not communicating, no wonder your clan is nearly extinct. I made sure Kisame knew you were alive, but I didn't tell him where we were just in case he blabbed to ears that shouldn't hear. Your brother is fine by the way, I have him tied up and unconscious over there."

Deidara pointed to Itachi's left and said Uchiha looked. Sasuke was laying on his side facing the duo. His arms tied tightly behind his back and his legs bound with thick cords that had the mark of alchemy all over them. Sasuke's entire body was covered in both bandages but also more chakra seals then Itachi has ever seen on a single person -that was not a Jinchuuriki- in his life.

He was also wide awake, his eyes a mixture of immeasurable rage and primal fear.

"Huh… he was unconscious an hour ago, un…" Deidara shrugged non-committedly and proceeded to give Itachi some water from a canteen. He stood up once Itachi had enough and went over to Sasuke. "Come on, your brother just drank from the same thing, if I wanted to kill you, I would not use Sasori's method of poisoning, un."

Sasuke was reluctant to accept the water, causing Deidara to force most of it into the teen's mouth just to make sure he was hydrated. After some sputtering and squirming, Deidara gave up trying to give Sasuke water and instead made him sit up against the wall.

"Now…" Deidara slammed his hands on his hips, he could tell Itachi was still hanging onto the fact that the blond was wearing a braid that showed off his entire face. "I am going to sit over there," He points to a wall far away from the brothers, "and make more clay. You two are going to talk through your damn issues, un! And don't expect your Philosopher's Stone back until I am satisfied either." With that, Deidara walked to his designated spot and began drawing transmutation circles.

Itachi felt his mouth go dry and his voice remained silent. This was not how he planned things to go. He was supposed to die, Sasuke was supposed to inherit his mangekyou abilities and the Stone then return to Konoha. He should have seen the possibility that Deidara or Konan would try to keep him alive… that there were people that didn't want to see him dead.

Itachi sighed.

"Sasuke, I-" He stopped, unsure where to start. Sasuke never broke eye contact, even when Itachi himself looked away. "Where shall I start?"

"Start with the truth," Sasuke growled out, he would be strangling Itachi right now if it wasn't for the binds and gaudy amount of seals littered around his body.

"You would never believe the truth even if I said it to you," Itachi said, his body tensing up when he felt Deidara beginning to glare daggers at him. "And I lack evidence."

"Just say it!" Sasuke's voice broke into a yell. "I can't move anyway so you might as well take your time trying to squirm your way out of this!"

And so, Itachi told the truth. How the clan was restless and were planning to stage a coup against Konoha, how Shisui and he were the only ones that wanted to prevent a civil war… and how he had to watch his best friend die because of Danzo. Itachi talked of his time as a spy, meeting Madara -that made Deidara stop what he was doing and listen- and the order to… kill their clan. Itachi explained why he didn't kill Sasuke, a few times choking on his own words as he watched his precious little brother's expression change and the threat he gave Konoha should they harm Sasuke.

All the while, Sasuke didn't make a peep. There was distrust in the teen's eyes, but he remained quiet for whatever reason. Itachi always jumped to add in detail if he felt a question bubbling up. Finally, when Itachi was done, Sasuke spoke.

"I don't believe anything you said."

Itachi gave his brother a small smile, "I knew you would say that, but I spoke the truth. It is up to you if you believe it or not."

"And I don't," Sasuke said with a sharp glare. "All this time it turns out that you were some tragic hero? Stop lying."

"Kid, if your brother really wanted to kill you, he would have done so years ago, un!" Deidara snapped, chucking his processed clay onto the ground. "What part about him letting you live and then dying with a smile on his face during your guys' big fight translate to 'I am currently lying to you'?"

Sasuke went quiet.

"And you," Deidara pointed a finger at Itachi, "When were you going to tell me that I was partners with not only the leader of the fucking Akatsuki, but also was history's most famous Uchiha?!"

"I assumed you would figure it out yourself," Or die before it was revealed, but Itachi would rather not say that to someone who sees him as a friend.

"I figured out he was an Uchiha not long after my fight with Sasuke, that's why I arrived here solo. But Madara? Please, un." Deidara rolled his eyes, walking over to Sasuke and began to check his injuries. "If I hadn't shown up, he would have scooped up your brother and take your eyes with him and convince your brother to join the Akatsuki. Just need to spin a truthful tale to make him love you again but hate your village. If that wasn't the case then I'll make my next C2 look like Envy's true form."

Both Akatsuki members shivered.

Deidara locked eyes with Sasuke, "I'm going to untie you and you're free to leave if you want… but if you attack Itachi, I will not hesitate to reverse everything your brother has done to keep you alive, un."

"Deidara, please…" Itachi sighed out, "Don't."

Deidara clapped his hands and put his hands on the seals over Sasuke's bindings, shredding them into fibers. Besides loosening of limbs, Sasuke remained still even after Deidara returned to his clay. They sat there in silence for several minutes, the only sound came from the teen moving to regain the feeling of his limbs.

There were no attacks, no words spoken, just silence in a dark cave.

Until Sasuke spoke up again, "I'm going to Konoha to learn the truth, if I don't like what I found or I learn you were lying, I'm coming back to kill you."

Itachi only nodded. Sasuke got up and left the cave, not caring much about the pain he felt.

"Hate to kill the mood, but won't that make capturing the Kyuubi harder, un?"

Itachi didn't make any comments.

A few weeks later, Itachi found himself holding his brother in his arms as the teen swears he will kill Danzo for what he has done to the clan.

Obito's illusion of control was slowly breaking apart with Deidara loudly declaring to "Tobi" that he will only follow Konan's orders from now on and that "Tobi" can go jump off a cliff.

xxxxx00000xxxxx00000

Konan

They won…

Who knew that those two words would come to pass, but as the last two Jinchuuriki's corpses slammed into the ground and the Gedo statue received its final eyes, everything fell into place.

It wasn't easy. Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara had to work together to capture the Hachibi -Deidara refused to let Madara near them- while she and Pein flattened Konoha in their hunt for the Kyuubi… no, Uzumaki Naruto. If they had the energy, Konan and Nagato would have debated for hours on who was harder to fight against: Naruto or Sasuke. But Sasuke vanished from the fight mere minutes after Pein began to fight Naruto after crows aggressively flew on the battlefield… perhaps that is the only saving grace they had in their victory.

They had won.

Words have never felt so sweet with relief and sour from the bile that built up in Konan's stomach.

A child was dead and his blood was on her hands. It was her alchemy that pinned the fox to the ground, her jutsu that bound him, her alchemy that trapped his allies so she could whisk him away.

"Itachi, let's make sure this thing doesn't wake up until we want it to, un!" Konan faintly heard Deidara's voice. Had her tunnel vision on the Uzumaki boy ended she would have seen the two boys clap their hands without transmutation circles and red sparks dancing along the now twitching statue, the very earth binding what is supposed to be the symbol of the Akatsuki's future.

Pein and two of his other bodies jump to Naruto's body and the Hachibi Jinchuuriki's body -she faintly remembers Kisame calling this man "Killer Bee"- and picking them up. The main body held Naruto while the other two carried Bee's, though less gracefully, and the group flicker away. Konan followed.

"Nagato?" Konan approached her dear friend, immediately taking out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Nagato's lips. She watches the two bodies be laid before them and she freezes. The boy looked peaceful like he was just taking a nap… he couldn't be much older than Ed or Al, and the blond hair… the temper...

"Konan… what were alchemy's rules on bringing humans back from the dead?" Nagato asked weakly.

"The Elric brothers… lost a lot in an attempt to bring back their mother, but failed as they couldn't bring her soul back. Deidara succeeded because Itachi died from an illness, so his heart could be restarted," Konan answered automatically. "I'm not sure… with their souls being tied to the Bijuu…"

"And your stone?" Nagato lips twitched upward when Konan tensed up, "I knew that was more than a gift… you were never one to keep sentimental items… even then, you refused to look at it. Like the sight of it disgusted you."

"..." Konan reached up to the flower in her hair when a cold hand softly held her wrist. It was the main Pein body, Yahiko's body. "Nagato, what are you doing?"

"Take care of the Akatsuki for me," Nagato coughed up another spurt of blood, yanking his arms out of the machine that kept him mobile and alive. "I heard stories about Uzumaki Naruto… and I believe that he can help bring peace. I could only imagine what the world would look like if we had failed to capture him. Itachi's brother will also be here soon to collect them… It was Naruto for the village… provided I bring him back to life."

Nagato weaved his hand signs and summoned the King of Hell, tall and monstrous that unzipped its mouth and just… sat there. Nagato was in complete focus of his chakra, using the full extent of his chakra and his rinnegan to rip Naruto and Bee's souls away from where they may be resting. The three Pein bodies fall to the ground and Konan stood there.

Nagato's hair began to turn white and the King of Hell finally had two bright beams of blue light fly out of them, followed behind by hundreds of other lights that flew off into the distance. And still, Konan stood there, nothing she could do would make Nagato stop and at this point… he would never forgive her if she tried to use the stone on him. Something in her snapped, watching the last ray of light in her life grow dimmer and dimmer each passing second and there was nothing she could do about it… she was helpless.

Funny, things are becoming blurry, has it begun to rain…? Her eyes stung, but she didn't dare blink.

"You must live, Konan…"

Nagato's body slumped forward at the same time two pairs of lungs take in air. Konan went to her friend's body and hugged it close to her, trying to contain her emotions, trying to not make a sound as her vision became a blurred mess of simple colors. She could hear Naruto sit up, he was asking questions but should she really answer them? Did she have the strength to?

"We… won… Your friend will be…" Konan couldn't stop the small hiccup and she wanted to crawl somewhere to hide the shame. "You will be taken somewhere from us… we…" A shaky breath, "We will begin… negotiations soon."

"Wait… you guys...? How am I alive?" She heard Naruto ask, more to himself than towards her.

"Nagato…" And then there was silence for a minute. But only for a minute. A wall explodes and Konan uses her paper to cloak her, Nagato, and Yahiko from harm and multiple feet storm in the area. Konan never removed herself from her friend as there was shouting. Someone got cut because they tried to get to her, get to Nagato and Yahiko.

"The deal was that you would leave with Naruto and Bee and leave without harming Konan, Sasuke," Itachi said after suddenly appearing and yanking Haruno Sakura away from Konan's paper wall. "You have five minutes to leave before my genjutsu on the others fade. I will not stop Deidara if he decides to attack."

"Sasuke-kun, we can't let them get away with this! They took him!" Konan heard a girl's voice shout, but she didn't dare part the paper to watch.

"Sakura… please," Sasuke's voice was next. "Help Kakashi with Killer Bee, the Raikage will want him returned to Kumo safely."

"Sasuke-kun… but-" Sakura let out a sigh. "Fine…"

Konan remained still as the chakra from the intruders fade along with the chakra of the two former Jinchuuriki. The paper wall parted and returned to her body. A gentle hand rubbed soothing circles on her back while a sob finally broke out. This was too much, she lost too much, why did this have to take her last friend from her? Why… why did Madara have to want the Bijuu?

Konan let out a long, shaky breath and released her hold of Nagato's body. Itachi stepped back and watched as she wrapped the bodies of her two friends in paper coffins. "Burn the other bodies, leave nothing behind, especially the rinnegan. I'm taking Nagato and Yahiko back to Amegakure so that they may rest…"

"Konan?" Itachi spoke up, preparing the hand signs to burn the other bodies.

"I have control of when the Gedo statue can be summoned and Nagato made me in charge of the Akatsuki…" She breathed again, lifting the two bodies into the air and sprouted her paper angel wings. Clasping her hands together in a jutsu, she unsummoned the Gedo statue that still sat in the dark cave. "Rather I am in charge of the dream of the Akatsuki, I'm cutting ties with Madara."

"He won't like that," Itachi commented but making no moves to stop her.

"No, he won't." Spreading out her wings, Konan flew off in a flurry of papers, carefully carrying the two most important people in her life and ready to defend their final resting place with her life.

xxxxx00000xxxxx00000

Movements from the Akatsuki came to a screeching halt for a time and tension from the Five Great Nations was at an all-time high, waiting anxiously for the supposed negotiations that were to come their way. Messenger hawks to Ame would return without replies or even read letters. Some villages tried to send shinobi, but there were no reports of their return. The only exception was when Konoha sent Sasuke in hopes that the Uchiha would be able to coax, at the very least, Itachi out of hiding.

Sasuke was returned by a familiar white bird, bandages covering his eyes but relatively unharmed.

"Itachi and I swapped eyes…"

That was the only information Konoha received and was the last thing on the minds of the other four Hidden Villages.

However, in Ame, things were not as quiet as the rest of the world was led to believe.

Konan flew through the air, mercilessly sending wave after wave of paper shuriken at "Madara" -she doubts that was ever his name in the first place- while keeping her distance from him. She was no longer needed for his plan, and right now she was the only thing between him and the ultimate beast, the Juubi which remained trapped in a prison of genjutsu and alchemy in the void that held it prisoner until it was to be summoned.

"This will only end in your death," Obito reasoned with Konan, dodging another shuriken aimed for a vital spot. "I gave Nagato the rinnegan and I will take back what is mine to finish the Tsuki No Me project."

"Nagato entrusted the Akatsuki to me!" Konan stretched her arms out to the side. "I will never let you have his eyes or the Juubi, not as long as I am alive!"

And then she clapped.

Obito barely had a second to activate kamui before hoards of metallic spikes shot out from the water aimed towards him like a hoard of serpents all pouncing on the same prey. The Uchiha cursed inwardly, damn this woman for learning a technique he didn't know! He stood atop spike-free water when he noticed one tiny detail about this alchemy… it had red sparks instead of the blue that always happened when Deidara used alchemy.

Always blue… until Deidara used a red stone Itachi had on his necklace.

Red stone…

Obito locked his sharingan on the red stone in Konan's hair flower.

Using kamui, he predicted where Konan would fly next and teleported in front of her. The woman attempted to fly back but was held steadfast by Obito's grasp around her fragile neck. He only needed to extract the information from her in a genjutsu, plain and simple...

Of course, plans were simpler when a certain blond bomber wasn't sending a clay butterfly the side of ten Kisames directly at you. Instincts only saved Obito by throwing Konan away and barely escaping the blast with a singed Akatsuki cloak.

"Why did people even for a second believe you were Madara, un?" Deidara shouted down from his clay hawk, grinning madly at his former partner as he dropped several more c1s just in the off chance Obito had not realized he was there. "You're too much of a dumbass to be him and your abilities are too much like Hatake Kakashi!"

"Hn," That voice came from right behind Obito.

He didn't have enough time to dodge the kunai that was now lodged between two of his ribs from behind. Obito swung around, sending a powerful kick to Itachi who burst into a flurry of crows. Now the older Uchiha was on the defensive, focusing most of his energy in avoiding the three sets of jutsu while charging his kamui for another attack… if he could just get rid of Deidara at the very least he wouldn't have to worry about the bombs.

But better said than done when every time he heard a clap, something new was trying to kill him.

Itachi's eyes swirled to a pattern that Obito had never seen before. A solid red pupil with three black, wavy lines stretching out, each connected to the left by a crescent slope and tied with a black circle in the middle of the eye. Itachi was launched into the air so that he may be covered in a solid orange tengu samurai, wielding a sword almost half the size of its body, a perfect Susano-o that protected its master with pure chakra.

Itachi clapped, a sound that echoed among the destroyed metallic spikes, the grey sky, and vibrated the very rain itself. Itachi clapped, and from the red sparks, black flames danced across the Susano-o like the gentle caress of a warm embrace.

Itachi had clapped, and Obito was facing death incarnate.

xxxxx00000xxxxx00000

Deidara was given the privilege to remove the mask and was immediately disappointed. "Well, he's just some guy, un." He backed away from the body and crossed his arms, one hand still holding the damaged mask.

"I know who he is," Itachi said, kneeling down next to Obito's body and began to pluck out the still activated sharingan, paying no attention to the sounds of gagging behind him. "His name is Obito, he was reported dead during the Third Great Shinobi War and was a teammate of Kakashi. Everyone in the clan knew about him because he had given Kakashi one of his eyes."

"Lucky for us that Uchihas apparently don't age, un…" Deidara muttered, letting out another gag when Itachi plucked out the other sharingan. "Gross… if he gave up an eye, why does he have two now?"

"Harvested from clan members he killed when he helped me with the massacre." Itachi pulled out two capsules filled with a solution and put one eye in each capsule. "I'll have to find where he stored the rest, my clansmen deserve to have their eyes returned to their resting place…"

"We will do what we can to help with that search…" Konan took the mask from Deidara and the capsule containing Obito's eye. She had the two items tenderly wrapped in a box made of her paper and held the box with delicacy. "I believe it's time for us to summon the Five Kages… I know what needs to be done with the Juubi. Make sure Obito receives a proper funeral, bad deeds or not, his soul has no reason to be trapped in this world."

Obito's body was set ablaze in the black flames of Amaterasu.

"Itachi, Deidara, swear this to me," Konan stood straight and the two were brought to attention, just like they would in Amestris. "You two are the last that know how to use alchemy along with me. Zetsu is to be hunted and killed as an accomplice of Obito and Kisame's fate is determined by Itachi, his living partner. I want you both to swear to me that…"

She looks down at the box and takes a breath.

"If one day I become like this man… or… if I become a monster like Bradley… I want you two to kill me without mercy or hesitation. Swear to me that neither of you will allow yourselves to die like Sasori or Hidan, and prevent this world from creating a monster like the monsters we had seen."

"Understood…" Itachi answered.

"I don't like it, using my art on you, but if you insist…" Deidara nodded but quickly looked away. "So are we the good guys or the bad guys, un?"

Konan's body began to split apart into origami butterflies, the sky going blue and the rain ceasing its constant fall. "That is a matter of perspective."

xxxxx00000xxxxx00000

The Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron was cold, with snow that reached the shins of non-shinobi and frostbite threatened those of poor chakra control. In the safety of the summit building, the Kages and their guards waited anxiously for the Akatsuki's arrival. Well… the Raikage anxious but…

"When are they going to be here?" A shouted out annoyed, slamming his fist on the table.

"Soon, be patient…" Gaara kept his eyes closed, trying to ignore A's frustration. "Being upset with them is not going to make our situation any easier… they have all of the Bijuu."

"Yes…" A voice rasped out, "It was rather annoying capturing the remaining two."

The Kage's guards appeared in defensive positions, except for Tsunade's as Kakashi and Shizune remained in the back.

Kisame entered the building and brushed the snow from his body. "There's no need to respond like that, Konan and the other two are entering shortly, I'm here making sure things are safe." He gives the group a toothy grin and a soft laugh. "I'm looking forward to working with all of you instead of fighting against you."

Tsunade paused, blinking several times. "Likewise…" She relaxed in her chair and the other Kage's guards return to the shadows. "What took the Akatsuki so long to finally contact us?"

Kisame waved a hand dismissively, "Something about trying to figure out how to control the Juubi… oh, I have a present from Konan for Hatake Kakashi." He reached into his cloak and pulled out the paper box. Slowly, like he wasn't sure who would attack him, he approached Tsunade and stopped a good five feet from her, the tension thick in the air. He carefully put the box down and slid it over to the Hokage then backed away. "Turns out the person calling himself Uchiha Madara was… well, lying. He also had a history with Kakashi."

Tsunade didn't touch the box but nodded and Kakashi appeared. He picked up the box and peeked inside and just... froze. The jonin let out a long, slow breath and closed the box, nodding to himself but his head never fully went back up. He flickered back with the others without a word.

Kisame looked to the entrance of the building and the rest followed suit. Konan walked inside, wearing the Akatsuki's straw hat so that the white tassels covered her face. Flanking behind her are Itachi on her left and Deidara on her right, only the blond was smiling from the three of them, specifically at the Tsuchikage, Onoki.

"Deidara… seems you're still alive," Onoki commented, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Have to keep a promise I made after all, un." Deidara motions his head towards Konan.

Konan says nothing and walks towards the empty seat where Kisame now stood, waiting for her. The Kages go silent as they observe the woman. Head bowed down but body straight as a finely crafted arrow. Each step was confident, powerful, like a trained soldier readying for war yet held the grace of a dancer. Tsunade and Gaara were the first to look at the more visible parts of her body, the unusual boots that covered her entire feet and hit the floor with heavy clunks and the whiteness of her hands that made her orange nails shine even brighter. No one could truly figure out why the Akatsuki painted their nails.

The pale tone of her skin stuck with Tsunade. She remembered Konan, if only barely, and the child had a healthy complexion with reports that she still kept that look even as an adult… but now her skin… dare she say it rivaled Orochimaru in paleness.

What exactly happened to the child that tried to give her and her teammates an origami flower?

Konan sat in her seat, resting one hand in her lap and the other reaching for her hat. "I must apologize for the delay, but we had to figure out how to control the Juubi without it going on a rampage. The Akatsuki were lead astray in our original goals for peace… and as a result of taking the other Bijuu, we inadvertently created a mindless monster. It had to be controlled."

She took off her hat and set it on the table in front of her. WIth Konan's face finally reaching light many bloods in the room ran cold.

"The control isn't perfect, I was hoping to work with the Hokage in performing an eye transplant… as no one in the Akatsuki is skilled in medical ninjutsu, but I am making do with what I was given."

Konan's amber eyes bore into the souls of the Kages, but that was the only part about her that remained the same. Her skin had turned white like the paper she so loved, her hair once blue also lost all color but remained tied in the way she was most comfortable in. Horns, possible the length of her ring finger but the width of half of her hand at the base protruded from her hairline, curving towards the back of her head. Her Akatsuki cloak, partially open at the top and visible, exposed a white robe lined with black tomoes, neatly folded and preserved her modesty.

At the top of Konan's Sternum was the Philosopher's Stone embedded into her skin, a physical reminder of her power. None of the Kages understood what the stone was, but Konan clapped her hands and rested them on the table. The stone sparked red, as did the table and it crumbled and fell to the ground, leaving spring grass that shined impossibly bright for the harsh winters of this country. The stone sparked again and the grass dissolved away and the tabled returned.

There was no genjutsu, no ninjutsu, nothing.

"I have much to talk about and what I showed you is one of them… this stone…" Konan rested her right pointer and middle finger over the cursed object. "Is how I am controlling the Juubi… the Akatsuki allowed a monster to return and as the current leader, I am paying the price for our actions. War has tone apart this land, orphaned children, taken the lives of innocents, all for the sake of power and control… the Akatsuki now hold that power… and in the names of the friends I lost in hopes of achieving peace… I want to work with the Five Great Nations to end all war."

Itachi and Deidara both let out long exhales then exchanged nods. They walk to the pillars that cover the Kage's guards with curtains. Deidara began to draw a transmutation circle while Itachi simply clapped his hands. Blue and red sparks danced around the pillars, merging together into a royal purple and effortlessly shredding the curtains into small piles of fiber. With everyone now exposed to the open, Konan finally smiled. Not a harsh smile. Not the smile of someone who knows they've just won a game that was thought unwinnable.

No, it was just the smile of someone who was finally at peace with themselves.

"Shall we begin?"

I wanted to leave the ending vague. There really is no "good ending" or "bad ending" because it is a matter of perspective, the Akatsuki are in control but at what cost would it be? That is the ugliness of war, even the victors claim their prize feeling hollow and lost.

I originally was going to have this be a short epilogue, a little "here is a summary of what happened afterwards" but as I was writing, I just wanted to add more. More detail, more story. Just something to show how much impact alchemy and the FMAB world had on these five people. In the end, this is a product I am happy with.

This story is now up for adoption. My only request is that what I have here remains the same and that the person that may be adopting the story lets me know when they begin to post new chapters so that I can watch them do their work.

If I decide to continue the story in my own words, I will post an announcement here. The continuation will be on AO3 (see announcement chapter for reason why).

Thank you guys for following this story and supporting it even as my love for the story was slowly dying chapter by chapter. It was humbling to write this and see how many people loved it and again, I truly am sorry I was unable to give you a finished product. At the very least I hope the two-parter epilogue gave you readers some closure on the story.

Thank you again :)