Raven hair floated gently across the broad shoulders of Uchiha Itachi, he walked briskly across the busy streets and into the park where he was to meet the rest of the fellow Akatsuki members. The time was coming for them to return to the world of Naruto, they had all been hiding in this world until the war was over and they could leave in peace. He arrived third after Deidara and Tobi; the two had rarely been separated after they both arrived here, Itachi nodded quickly in greeting, "It's been a while Deidara-san."

"ITA-CHAN," Tobi bounded onto the back of the older Uchiha, "WHY YOU NO SAY HI TO TOBI-CHAN? TOBI IS A GOOD BOY."

Itachi sighed; he knew that this version of Tobi was just a cover, hiding the evil being inside. Tobi was supposed to have been fighting and dying in the war but that was only a doppelganger, Tobi was the one who kept the Akatsuki alive in this world, Tobi wasn't finished with them yet. Itachi lowered his voice so Tobi was the only one to hear, "Why are we going back now?"

Tobi's voice grew low like Itachi's but darker at the same time, "The war is over, and it's time to go back."

"Why do you need us?"

"You'll see soon enough Ita-chan."

"Are we all here yet?" Sasori's impatient voice interrupted any further questions Itachi had for Tobi, "I don't like waiting."

Deidara snorted in the presence of the puppet master, "That's just like you. We're still waiting on Pein-sama un."

"Not anymore," Pein walked out of the trees accompanied by Konan, Kakuzu and Kisame. The four stood in a semi-circle with Pein at the top, "Shall we start now?"

Itachi watched Pein with cold eyes, "I thought you were originally Nagato."

"Madara thought it best for me to have only the one body while in this world," Pein shared the same knowledge of Tobi that Itachi did, so the man 'Madara' to everyone else was Tobi to them, "And after we go back. So, shall we start or do you have any more questions?"

"Hn."

The eight Akatsuki members formed a circle, each one began a series on hand signs moving faster than the human eye could see, and none speaking until Pein lifted his head, "Crossing Worlds Jutsu."

A binding light could be seen from passers-by before they forgot that a group had even stood there.

The light shone through the dark forest, separating into eight beams, then tacking the form of each member. Each member had their cloaks on, looking grave yet successful, the dark forest only adding to the tension and excitement each of them felt. Sasori was the first to move and comment, "I'm not a puppet. I thought I would be a puppet again once we got back."

"That aside for now, we are our own people," Pein, dreaded leader of the Akatsuki, stood in the centre of them all, his authority was hard to ignore, "You all have a choice now, stay with us or leave and be hunted down. I will not allow any knowledge of the Akatsuki to be leaked like last time, this is our second chance to get it right, this is a new beginning for us." No one moved, no wanted to leave the Akatsuki, "That being the case the first order of business would be to re-gather Hidan from wherever he was buried."

"I would try somewhere in Konoha," Kakuzu gave advice after remembering his fight with the leaf ninja; "He went off and fought with some kid called Shikamaru and never came back."

"Then you and Deidara shall go to collect him, find Shikamaru and find Hidan," Pein nodded as the two vanished, "The rest of us need somewhere to stay. Any ideas?"

"Oh Tobi knows," Tobi bounced in a circle and pointed into some trees to where a beaten down mansion stood; "We can go and live in that big house just over there. No one will miss it."

He had this planned, speaking in his mind, Itachi could see through his fellow Uchiha's more innocent disguise, it was nothing but a rouge, but it was a rouge that worked. He turned to the leader and spoke out loud, "Pein-sama?"

Pein moved first, "It will do, Konan-san send Kakuzu and Deidara a message informing them. Starting now the Akatsuki is back."

Sasuke sat up with a snap, something was wrong, something was…off. He threw off his bed sheets and burst through his door, he began to bang rapidly on the bedroom next to his, "Naruto wake up."

The war had finished a few months ago and Sasuke had moved in with Naruto as part of the condition that he could move back to Konoha. He and Naruto had defeated Tobi and united the five ninja villages for the first time ever, everything and everyone was finally at peace but just now something, something wasn't right, "Naruto wake up right now."

"What do you want Teme, I'm trying to sleep," Naruto came out of his bedroom, half asleep and complaining like usual, "If you had a bad dream go bother someone else…"

"It wasn't a dream Dobe, something isn't right. I'm not sure what it is yet but something isn't right," Sasuke stared seriously at his friend; it was the same feeling he had after he defeated Itachi, something felt wrong, unnatural, and unfinished, "We need to find out what it is."

Naruto stared at the Uchiha; Sasuke's face was paler than usual, he was frantic and chewing on his nail. After shrugging it off as something Sasuke ate Naruto gave a final yawn and turned back to his bedroom, "Night Teme, I'm going back to bed."

"Naruto…"

"Itachi-san," Konan found the tired Uchiha scrubbing away at the grime cover benches after all the other members had fallen asleep well over an hour ago, "I take it that you are an obsessive cleaner then?"

Itachi nodded softly and scrubbed harder, "And you Konan-san? I don't believe you came out here for a midnight snack but I have been mistaken before."

"I actually came out here looking for you."

"Hn?" Konan left the room, Itachi following behind like a stray pup that lost his mother. She led him through the house and into Pein's room, the leader nodded at Itachi's presence. He wasn't going to admit the fact that he was confused until he saw four large sacks on the ground that he was certain that he didn't see before, "What are they?"

"These are our ticket to freedom."

Confusion burrowed further into the Uchiha's brain, "Would you care to explain Pein-sama?"

"Let's be frank Itachi-san, you and I both know that Tobi is going to use us then kill us when he is finished," Pein moved around the sack and grabbed Konan's hand, it was obvious that they cared deeply, more than friend deeply, for each other, "Konan and I want to start all over again with each other and forget the past crimes we have committed. You want to be free as well; you want to get back to your family. Therefore you and I share the same target, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki? Why would I go after him?"

"He is friends with your brother if I'm not mistaken."

Itachi nodded and swore silently, "And what is Uzumaki to you?"

"He is a friend and we wish to thank him for what he has done for us," Pein let go of Konan so he could grab hold to the four sacks, "But first we must free ourselves from Tobi which is where these four come in. I 'borrowed' them from the other world we came from; they have an unusual talent unlike anyone else in their world. In that world no one has been able to break through the barrier which holds back their chakra, these four have broken through but don't know it yet so they have been training it without knowing."

Confusion wormed its way back into Itachi's mind, "I don't see how that will help us."

"They also have seen our world through the programme 'Naruto', I believe you've had a brush with some of its fan-made stories," Pein noticed the tiniest of blushes cross the Uchiha's face, "So they know who they need to trust. Tobi is looking for some new recruits to train under the Akatsuki and I'm going to offer him these four. However there is one problem…"

He opened the sacks which held a frightened teenaged girl, about seventeen years old, each inside of them. The first girl was quite tall with short blonde hair and an athletic build, the second was of Asian descent and was just taller than the last, the third looked to be the youngest of them all with long brown hair and was quite petit, the last girl had slightly darker skin than the rest and long wavy black hair. All the girls were wearing a white blouse, navy blue pencil skirt and black ballet flats, a boring school uniform if Itachi ever saw one. Four pairs of eyes watched him cautiously, they all looked completely frazzled which made Itachi wonder how long they had been trapped in those sacks. The smallest one turned to the Asian, "Hadu deej oud?"

Itachi was indeed shocked, Pein sighed and nodded softly, "Yes, they don't speak Japanese."