Kuchiyose: Tajigen Ihan

by Blacksryche

Seras, Ichigo, Ed and Lelouch are stolen from their universes by a desperate man willing to pay the ultimate price. When Uchiha Itachi tells them that they're stuck in his universe they decide to make the most of things and allow him to take them to the one place he is sure they will be welcomed, even if he isn't. Rated M for cursing, gore, tasteful love and horror, if I can do it.

A/N: This is a fic I've been slowly working on over the past 6-8 months. It's taken me a number of rewrites to come to not only write an opening chapter that I can draw enough plot from but to come up with something reasonably believable with respect to continuity and development. That and I'm lazy (read: energy efficient).

I've already decided on some main ideas, these include some pairings, bloodlines for the crossover characters and to a large extent which (if any) filler movies/arcs/moments to include into the story.

A word about pairings and romance, since they seem quite popular: I can't stand a story where a relationship essentially goes from nothing to passionate lovers in the space of a chapter or two. It's unrealistic, there's no development and this kind of thing generally ruins an otherwise decent story. In my opinion it really only serves to let a writer and fans of a pairing quickly indulge in their more base fantasies. Any and all main pairings in this fic will have substantial development (think ~10 chapters for serious relationship to develop, another 3-5 for development in intimacy). Minor pairings will take just as long to translate into the story but won't have as much development as they're not really too important.

Seras, Ichigo, Lelouch and Ed all have bloodlines similar to their abilities in their own stories/universes. The biggest change in abilities is in Lelouch. It's hard to justify giving him a bloodline on par with a more powerful (albeit single use) Kotoamatsukami that doesn't have a 10 year cooldown, especially in the 'Narutoverse', as many seem to like to call it. Instead Lelouch will have a dojutsu. It's abilities will aid his strategic mind and eventually will include a more downscaled version of his geass. Ichigo's power will be reduced to 'Narutoverse' levels or he'd be too powerful and will rely on chakra. Seras isn't practically unkillable like Alucard was in Hellsing but her abilities will pretty much be the same. They also need chakra now. Since alchemy doesn't exist in the 'Narutoverse' Ed can't really use it, however his bloodline will afford him many advantages that alchemy would have. In a sense everyone's abilities have been roughly translated over to fit in with the new reality they find themselves in. Obviously I've left out plenty of important details but it would take too long to explain everything here and might ruin parts of the story. They will be explained later though.

The main character is still Naruto of course. I'm not going to neglect any of the more minor-main characters either, they're all important. A few words on how I write: there will be no bashing so -do not- ask for it; there are some characters I don't care for (when I say this I don't mean that I hate them) but I will not ruin a story just because you want to be a pathetic excuse for a civilised human. There will be 'colourful' language and strong violence; I don't censor myself and I'm not willing to pretend that the world is a nice place when it's not, even if it should be. Also expect some squeamish moments, some deaths, probably a little sex later in the story (in good taste and not too graphic) and perhaps a little horror if I can manage to get it right. If you don't like that then do yourself a favour and stop reading. If you're fine with all that then I hope you enjoy it. Regardless of if you do or don't I would appreciate constructive criticism.

Right, now that's out of the way... I'd rather not, but...

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto, Hellsing, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist or Code Geass; they all belong to their respective mangaka. I don't want to own those rights. This is not an attempt to subvert those rights. This is just a tribute.

---

The stone floor of the meeting hall cracked, pressure brought about by an incredible gravity emanating from the center of the room. A dull hum began to fill the room until suddenly it was pierced by a cacophony of thunder, static dancing from the anomaly and scorching everything unfortunate enough to attract it. The continent shook, kages assuming the worst only to soon mistakenly recognise the disturbance as but a regular earthquake.

As the disturbance ended a body materialized in the darkness and impacted the ground at breakneck speeds, a crack of bone reverberating through the grand hall followed swiftly by a cry of pain. The squall was cut short, the body momentarily convulsing before a torrent of blood erupted from it's mouth. It's breathing turned heavy before it rolled itself onto it's back, eliciting another short scream of pain.

The body was that of a young man, likely no more than 17 years old. Dark hair framed his pained yet well defined face, his black eyes belieing his age whilst speaking worlds of his experience. Yet ironically there was light in those pained eyes. He could see it now. The journey almost complete. Only one thing left for him to do. One thing other than wait for the man he knew would come. It would be then that he could rest easy in the knowledge that his debt was repaid in full.

It was in some respects fortunate that he had landed on his right arm, he realised. The jutsu had cost him critical organs already, an impact like that directed at his chest or back would have likely doomed the mission the instant he arrived. While this was certainly a preferable alternative, it would now not only be incredibly difficult to perform the signs of his next jutsu, but should anyone other than the man he expected show up then he would have almost no chance of survival.

In truth this entire enterprise had the lowest chance of success that he had ever known a mission to have. Neither of the jutsu, the one that brought him here nor the one he had still to perform had ever been tested in any fashion, the first having unknowable results to any but the caster, the other leading to the certain death of it's caster. And he had signed up to this. Him of all people. Infact he had practically begged their designer, his best friend had he ever admitted it. Begged on his knees.

It was with a heavy heart that his friend relented and gave him this final mission, to send his comrade to his death. He could not have done it himself regardless, his rare condition made the last jutsu impossible for him to cast. Yet it had to be done, or at the very least attempted. The red eye of the moon forever ensnared all that gazed upon it. All but he and his best friend, the eyes and body of the great sage. Conventional victory was simply out of their grasp and anything was better than defeat.

Perhaps kami had heard their hopes and made the highly improbable reality. Perhaps the belief that good always triumphs over evil was not so naïve. He shook his head, 'No, that's definitely naïve.'. Regardless, he had made it. He just needed to stay awake. To ensure he survived until he could perform his jutsu. For now the pain was a great boon to that effort, though he was well aware that he had already taken fatal damage. It was quite probable that before the man arrived he would need to rely on more than just pain to keep himself.

"Please, come as fast as you can Itachi."

---

Kisame growled, the earthquake had interrupted a rather peaceful sleep, something he didn't get enough of as a missing nin. His gaze shifted to Itachi who was laid against a tree in front of him. "Just our luck, eh Itachi?" He growled, "Our first night off the job in weeks and kami throws a fucking earthquake at us."

Itachi just stared back at his partner in crime, his face void of emotion. "This is rather inconvenient." He agreed. Natural earthquakes weren't too uncommon in the continent, however a one this intense was indeed quite rare. "Perhaps someone nearby has performed a particularly potent jutsu."

The ex-kiri nin stood up and frowned. "If the fight moves too close to us we'll be found and dragged into it. They'll probably send word of our location back to their villages too." He growled again, swinging his zanbato Samehada over his shoulder. "We should just find them and take them by surprise. It'll be quick and we can get back to a decent sleep."

Itachi grunted in agreement. "It is quite possible that it's just a normal earthquake but we should check to make sure regardless." He used the tree to steady himself as he got up. Just as they were about to head off in search of a fight the earthquake stopped. Kisame looked back to Itachi who just shrugged. "Perhaps the fight has ended."

Kisame chuckled and nodded. "Perhaps. But we should still make sure." He turned to leave but was again interrupted, this time by a quiet and brief grunt of pain from behind him. He turned and looked on in confusion to Itachi who had stopped mid stride with a frown on his face. "Itachi?"

The Uchiha heir shook his head as the burning in his shoulder ceased. "It's alright Kisame, something just set off a security seal back at the Uchiha hideout." Not just any seal he had realised, but the one he had placed in the meeting room. What was strange was that none of the other seals had been set off before it. Whatever had set it off had either appeared in the room or had broken in through the roof, though how they could have managed to get to the roof without setting off other seals eluded him. As far as he was aware this could only mean one thing. 'It must be Madara.' He turned in the opposite direction. "I need to handle some personal business. I should be back in time to begin our next mission. If I'm not I'll catch up to you."

Kisame frowned at first, then sighed, shaking his head before chuckling again. "Fine. Do what you need to do. If you're late it just means I get to have your share of the fun." He grinned wide, his shark teeth showing. "Take all the time you need." Itachi just nodded and jumped into the trees before speeding away.

---

The dark haired man had remained still on the ground for a few hours now. He could tell by the subtle change in warmth and quiet birdsong that night had passed. Of course he knew when he'd arrived down to the exact second. It was an important part of the jutsu that he specified where and when, and with respect to the jutsu he had yet to perform it had taken much discussion with his comrade to agree upon these exact specifics.

He just hoped Uchiha Itachi arrived in time. The first jutsu had ironically robbed him of his future and if his convulsions were anything to go by he was on a very short schedule indeed. He didn't come here for nothing and would perform the jutsu with or without the infamous Uchiha present. Of course if he performed the jutsu before Itachi arrived then the mission would probably end in failure.

Sure enough, after another hour or so Itachi had arrived. He was still a minute or so away but the man could feel the nuke-nin's chakra despite Itachi's best efforts to hide it. The thought of being able to sense such a man when he clearly had no intention of being sensed by anyone empowered him. Fighting through the pain he used his functioning arm to bring himself to his feet. Slowly he stumbled towards the stone throne at the end of the room and took it for a seat. A few seconds later and his gaze met the red glow of Itachi's spinning sharingan eyes. He smiled and activated his own. "Hello Itachi."

Itachi visibly flinched. There were only 3 Uchiha left. Sasuke his 10 year old brother, a man claiming to be Madara, his new mentor and of course himself. He knew this because he and Madara had personally wiped the rest of the clan from the face of the earth. Sasuke had only survived because Itachi couldn't bring himself to kill him too. So who was this man with sharingan? His voice wasn't Madara's and it couldn't possibly be his brother. Someone who took the eyes of an Uchiha perhaps? No, he knew from Kakashi that a single sharingan in a non-uchiha would drain the user quickly. It would be an incredible liability to have 2 and nobody stupid enough to try it would dare come to him with them. Besides, non-uchiha couldn't deactivate or activate the sharingan; this man clearly could. That could only mean one thing.

Itachi took a few steps into the room, trying to get a better look at the figure in the dark. From what little he could see of his face he certainly had the look of an Uchiha, infact he was sure he'd seen this person somewhere before. After a moment of trying and to match what little he could make out of the face to those in his memories he frowned and let out some killer intent. "Who are you?"

A sinister chuckle came from the man but he chose not to match Itachi's killer intent, nor did he seem affected by it in any way. "It's hard to explain. Here, let me show you instead." His eyes morphed into mangekyou sharingan, catching Itachi off guard. Before he realised what was happening he was caught in a strong genjutsu and for the first time in a very long time he had a worried look on his face. "Don't worry. You're important, I won't harm you. Not that I would ever do that again." Itachi turned to the dark figure standing next to him. "There is much to tell and not enough time to do it conventionally. Tsukuyomi is the best way of communicating so much important information in such a short time frame."

Itachi regained his composure and frowned at the shadow. He had a suspicion of who this man was, yet he just didn't see how it was at all possible, so he disregarded it. The man clearly didn't want to reveal himself quite yet either way but he felt that he'd find out soon enough. Another thing was off though. He'd thought about using Tsukuyomi like this before but deemed that the damage to his eyes would not be worth the delivery of a long winded message, especially when there were efficient alternatives. Might as well humor the man, he figured. "Isn't this a waste?"

The figure shook his head. "These are eternal mangekyou sharingan. Besides, when I'm finished talking to you I need to perform a jutsu, after which these eyes will be useless to me." He explained, ignoring the shock once again on Itachi's face, "Infact it would probably be best for everyone if you destroyed them afterwards." The scene changed and Itachi found himself standing outside his old home in Konoha, the man absent. It was dark and the imaginary stench of blood filled his nostrils. He heard the man's voice echo in his head. "This is where everything really began."

Hesitating for only a moment Itachi opened the door to see... his younger self standing over the lifeless bodies of his parents? No, there was someone else too. Sasuke was here. He watched the worst moment in his life unfold just like he remembered it. It was hard to stomach those memories whenever they came up, which was often, but he always managed to maintain his emotionless mask and would push his focus back to whatever job he was on at the time. He did the same thing here. 'He's seen Sasuke's memories. He must have a strong mind reading jutsu, perhaps stolen from the Yamanaka.'

He watched as Sasuke chased his younger self out of the building and into the street. "This was the moment that set him on the path of vengeance." Itachi ignored the voice and left the house to watch the next scene unfold. "Of course, your plan is to have him kill you and restore the clan's honor whilst the truth behind the massacre stays hidden and eventually dies with you and the elders."

Itachi frowned and made a ram seal. Whoever this man was knew the truth, he had to die. "Kai."

Itachi heard a roar of laughter as he tried again. "Are you being serious Itachi?! You of all people should know you can't get out of this like that. Or are you really so desperate to take the truth to your grave that you'd try it on the off chance?"

The Uchiha heir ended his useless attempts at breaking through Tsukuyomi. "What do you want?"

The man seemed to ponder this for a moment before materializing. He kept himself hidden of course and appeared as a shadowy silhouette, the only part of him discernible being his eternal mangekyou sharingan. "I came here on what could be the most important mission the shinobi world will never know of, and hopefully one that will never be set again. It's success is moderately dependant on you completely understanding why it's important. To that end I am going to show you what would have happened were it not for this mission."

The scene changed again and they stood on the branch of a large tree overlooking a small clearing. Below him was Sasuke and a girl with pink hair, both were on the ground shaking in fear from the killing intent projected from a woman at the other side of the clearing. The fight begun and the man took the opportunity to talk over it. "This is the forest of death. Sasuke's team has entered the chuunin exams and have made it to the second round. Their third member has been separated from their team by a giant snake summoned by the woman that confronts them now, not that they know that."

Itachi instantly recognised who this woman must be to summon snakes. "So Orochimaru is still after the sharingan." He surmised. "I should have killed him when I had the chance."

"How very cliché. All I can say is that perhaps you are right and you should have killed him, but I can't be certain." The man shrugged. "I would likely agree if it weren't for the fact that I can't be sure of whether his survival was or is now necessary or not."

The missing nin wasn't sure how Orochimaru would ever be the cause of something useful ever again but something irked him even more. He watched as Orochimaru wound his way up a tree like the snake he likely now was. Suddenly kunai and shuriken impacted the trunk above the sannin and interrupted his ascent. Itachi turned with the illusions to see a blond boy wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit perched upon a branch above them. "The fourth's legacy." He muttered under breath.

"Indeed." Agreed the man. They watched the scene unfold again. "Uzumaki Naruto." He said simply as they watched as Sasuke attempted to give up the scroll to Orochimaru, believing it to be what he was after. The boy in question quickly jumped to catch the scroll as it sailed through the air much to Sasuke's surprise and anger. The two boys argued for a moment before Orochimaru summoned Manda. "He's your target as a member of Akatsuki and the best hope any of us have against Uchiha Madara's ultimate plan."

The Uchiha heir frowned. "Ultimate plan?" He'd been told something, but it didn't sound like anything more than using all the bijū as weapons, something the villages that had them already did today.

He heard the man chuckle again. "I didn't think you would know of it. Of course that's because he knows the truth of the massacre too and can't risk you letting Konoha know. Infact, I think I'll skip this lighter stuff and skip to the meat of it." The scene changed to that a desolate wasteland in the night. Above them the moon glowed an ominous sharingan red with a pattern in black that resembled a sharingan crossed with the rinnegan "It's called Tsuki no Me."

"Moon's Eye?" Itachi whispered in amazement, his eyes not straying from the unnerving giant eye that hung in the sky.

The figure scowled for the first time since he arrived. "Yes. The man who has been calling himself Madara is infact your cousin, Uchiha Obito." He explained, voice full of disdain. "Since the real Madara's death about 20 years ago he's been carrying out his plan, using Nagato or Pein as you know him as a pawn. The gedo statue that you are going to seal the tailed beasts into is actually the withered body of the Juubi, once sealed into the moon by the sage of the six paths."

The man's gaze shifted to Itachi, who had calmly turned around at the mention of Obito. The missing nin looked him in the eyes. His calm mask had returned. "If it was sealed inside the moon how did it get here?" He asked.

"The rinnegan has the power to summon it." Replied the figure.

Itachi seemed to catch on. "Pein summoned it from the moon." Well, almost.

The man shook his head. "No. Uchiha Madara summoned it from the moon." This seemed to get Itachi's attention, though someone without a dojutsu would likely have missed the almost non-existant twitch of his eye. "The rinnegan is the final form of the sharingan." The figure explained. "It awakened in Madara very late in life. He then used it to summon Gedo Mazo before implanting his eyes into a young Nagato. Eventually he found a dying Obito in his cave and saved him with Senju Hashirama's cells, specifically those from artificial bodies made by Hashirama, what you know as Zetsu. When Obito was strong enough to carry out his will he ended his own life and bequeathed his name to him." He paused, as if to let the information sink in. "Nagato is supposed to revive Madara when the time comes but he will be defeated by Naruto."

To think that the loudmouthed brat he had seen fighting Orochimaru moments earlier would have the power to defeat a rinnegan wielder of Nagato's experience and live was... wow. It seemed he had underestimated the boy's potential, if only a little. Before he could think on it any further his thoughts were interrupted again.

"After Nagato's death Obito declares war on the 5 great shinobi nations under the name of Uchiha Madara and takes the rinnegan for himself. His force consists of 100,000 white zetsu and famous dead ninja under Edo Tensei, including yourself, Akatsuki, the real Uchiha Madara and many others that would otherwise be on the other side. The 5 great nations form an alliance to combat the threat but due to a number of circumstances the Juubi is revived with only small portions of the Hachibi and Kyuubi sealed."

"Where does Sasuke fit into any of this?" Asked the Uchiha heir. This was all useful but he had been under the impression that Sasuke played a big role in the shaping of events.

"When Orochimaru bites Sasuke he will brand him with a curse mark. This will cloud his judgement and motivated by hatred for you he will leave Konoha to join Orochimaru in return for power to kill you." Replied the man.

"And he does?"

"No. But you fight. You purposely let your illness catch up to you on that day. You die less than a foot away from him and he thinks you succumbed to your injuries." Answered the man.

'I guess that works too. I only need to make him think justice is finally done. He can return to whatever life he had with the Uchiha name intact after that.' Thought the stoic Uchiha. Unfortunately this hope was crushed when the man began speaking again.

"Sasuke passes out and is treated by Obito, who then tells him a slightly twisted version of the truth about the massacre and he turns his hate towards Konoha. Your death awaken's the mangekyou sharingan in Sasuke's eye's. He joins Akatsuki and fails to capture the Hachibi. Soon after he attacks a 5 Kage summit called by the hachibi jinchuuriki's brother, the raikage, to kill Danzo, the soon to be sixth hokage. Danzo escapes the summit but Sasuke catches up to him and kills him."

The very thought of Sasuke wishing vengeance upon the village and joining Akatsuki made his stomach turn. 'Justice' to a mass murderer was one thing, vengeance upon an innocent population for the harsh decisions made by those in charge of it was another thing entirely. If he did this as an agent from an enemy village he would be branded a war criminal. This was not the path he believed his brother could ever follow, and the accusation angered him. "How can you possibly know Sasuke's future?" He almost spat.

The figure looked back at him, clearly trying and failing to suppress a wide smile and continued. "During his fight Sasuke overuses his Susanoo and loses most of his sight. After the fight Obito transplant's your eyes into Sasuke. I'm sure you know what that means." Itachi looked the man in his eyes and it clicked immediately. Despite having figured out what this implied he did a very good job of suppressing his amazement. "While Sasuke recovers from surgery Akatsuki's war begins, the purpose being to draw out the last 2 jinchuuriki. During the war you manage to free yourself from edo tensei's control. Sasuke runs into you as you head toward the man who controls Edo Tensei and he follows you, looking for answers. When you arrive you both fight him. You yourself lock him in Izanami and force him to release the edo tensei through another genjutsu. As you are released from Edo Tensei you tell him that you will always love him regardless of what he does. Sasuke revives Orochimaru and heads to Konoha to exact his revenge."

Itachi held back a frown. If what the man was saying was true, and it likely was if he was who he now expected him to be then he could change the future and hopefully Sasuke wouldn't think to destroy Konoha.

The figure continued. "Now free from Edo Tensei's controls the real Uchiha Madara finds a way to stay in the world of the living. He simultaneously fights and defeats the 5 Kage. During this fight Naruto, Bee, Kakashi and Gai fight Obito whilst the Juubi is being revived. When it is finally revived Madara arrives and joins in the fight. The rest of the alliance shows up and the two sides begin the final fight. Meanwhile Sasuke and Orochimaru arrive in Konoha. Orochimaru uses Edo Tensei to revive the 4 dead Hokage after using an Uzumaki deathmask to summon the Shinigami and tear open it's stomach to release them. After a talk with Hashirama your brother decides to spare the village and they all set off to fight Madara, Obito and the Juubi."

Itachi thought on the information for a moment. "I guess it's silly to ask if you won. If you had there would have been no reason to come back, right Sasuke?"

The figure smiled and laughed again before finally ending the jutsu and revealing himself. Stood before Itachi was a much older Sasuke; around 19 or 20 if he were to hazard a guess. His raven hair was long, as if it hadn't been cut in years. On his face stretched a long scar from just below his left eye to the right of his chin. It was as if someone had tried to take his eyes out with a sword and whoever had the potential to almost manage that against someone with Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan was, to say the least, frighteningly powerful. He stood as tall as Itachi did, if not slightly taller by a centimeter or two. He wore a tattered and half-open black high-collared short-sleeved shirt, with matching trousers held up by a dark purple obi, the legs stopping just above his black ninja sandals. "When did you figure it out?"

"I had suspicions quite early, but it was when you explained how your..." Itachi paused for a moment to figure out the context, "...past self was given my eyes. I just couldn't believe it until you mentioned the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. So how did you get back? How did you beat this Tsuki no Me?"

"My eyes protected me from it and Naruto was repeatedly knocked out of the genjutsu by the Kyuu-." He was suddenly interrupted by a coughing fit. On seeing blood hit the floor Itachi moved to assist but a shooing from his brother as he began recovering stopped him. Sasuke looked back to Itachi, his chin now covered in his own blood and gave him a sad smile. "A jutsu to the past is paid for by trading one's future." He explained. "Many of my internal organs are gone. Intestines, Kidneys, most of my liver and my right lung. My right arm also broke when I hit the floor."

Itachi stared at his brother in amazement. There was no way he could possibly survive this, and whilst it truly saddened him that he would likely see a version of his brother die he felt pride knowing that at least some version of his brother had become someone willing to sacrifice his life for what could only be the good of all. There was no way he was going to let this sacrifice be in vain. "What did you come here to do?" He asked.

"Well as you can see my time us short, so I'll just do what I came here to do instead of explaining it." He struggled through two dozen hand signs, most of which Itachi had never seen before. His bloodied hands ended in a ram seal and he looked to his brother again, this time deathly serious. "I need you to promise me. Promise me that you'll get them to Konoha."

Itachi returned a look of confusion to his dying sibling. "Get what to Konoha?" He asked, though he had a feeling it had everything to do with whatever his jutsu was about to do.

Instead of answering Sasuke called out the name of his jutsu as he slammed his left hand onto the broken floor. "Kuchiose: Tajigen Ihan!" The air became much cooler as a large shape faded in, floating above the ground. Sasuke groaned as a spectral blue chakra outline of himself emerged from above his body. The shape twisted, a part of it coiling around the blue chakra body before finally coming into clear focus. In front of both Uchiha stood a demonic figure with long white hair and long horns at the top of it's head. In it's right hand was a knife, in it's left prayer beads. Itachi instantly realised what this thing must have been.

"No!" He cried out. "Stop this Sasuke! Death is one thing, this is another entirely!"

The time traveller shook his head. "I can't stop the jutsu now. The deal was struck when I summoned him, the price will be paid regardless." He explained, a little sad that he had to do this in front of his brother. "You died for me. Let me die for both of us."

Itachi was heartbroken. His brother was throwing his very soul into an endless tormented existence inside the Shinigami's stomach and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 'Damn it!'

The curious gaze of the Shinigami moved to the man who had summoned him. After a moment of studying the man he spoke into his mind, his voice deep and harsh. "Describe the first, anomaly."

The Shinigami had expected the man who had summoned him, more like a boy really, to be intimidated by his very presence. Much to his credit he remained completely calm and answered him. "One brave, heroic and powerful. Who always knows to follow the light, even if they're encompassed in nothing but darkness."

Itachi recalled the name of the jutsu and suddenly he realised what his brother must have been trying to do. 'Tajigen Ihan... Multidimensional Violation' He shook his head. His brother couldn't be serious. There was no way such a jutsu existed, right?

"The second." The shinigami spoke only into the younger Uchiha's mind. If Itachi had heard it perhaps his disbelief would have evaporated. For now it seemed that Sasuke was in a one sided conversation with the thing.

Sasuke described the second type of person he wished to summon. "One willing to protect anyone that deserves it, even if they don't like them personally. Who isn't afraid to break the rules to do so either." Unfortunately there could be no assurances as to who was out there in another dimension or universe so he couldn't be any more specific. The plan was therefore to ask for people with certain qualities. Hopefully this far back into the past that regardless of who the shinigami summoned there would be time for them to adapt to their new world and become strong enough to help change the future.

The Shinigami nodded slightly, something Itachi didn't miss. Could this really be happening? "The third." It demanded after a moment.

Sasuke smiled. It seemed the mission was going to be a success. Best not celebrate too soon however, the Shinigami still needed another two people. "One compassionate and selfless, with the strength of will to endure the harshest of struggles to see their goals met."

"The last." It demanded.

Sasuke paused before he gave the ethereal being the last description. This was it. He was about to spend an eternity locked in that thing's stomach. That being said as far as he was aware the only person in there would be the Yondaime. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that everyone inside was condemned to an eternity of rage fuelled, senseless battle. The Uchiha smiled, it wasn't like that didn't sound fun to him. "One dedicated to making a better world, with the intelligence, determination and heart to make it happen."

The ghostly figure was motionless for a second. Soon enough it's eyes glowed an eerie green and four figures fell behind it. A tear fell from Sasuke's eye at the sight, he had finally paid all his debts and his brother and friends would have a chance. Itachi simply stood still, shocked that the jutsu had worked at all. The shinigami's eyes stopped glowing and the brothers' attention returned to it. "It is done. Prepare yourself, anomaly. Your life will end momentarily."

Though Itachi was amazed that the jutsu had actually worked it was obvious what was going to happen next. While he was proud his brother would go so far to give the world another chance he still wasn't comfortable with his fate. His brother began to collapse and Itachi moved to catch him. He slowly lowered his brother to the ground and lied him on his back. "Sasuke-"

"No. This is what had to be done." Interrupted the doomed brother. "There was no other way. Now promise me that you'll take them to Konoha and watch out for them."

"Of course." There was no way he would deny that request after everything that happened today.

Sasuke smiled. "You need to tell him the truth before his heart grows any darker. The clan's reputation is irrelevant, you can rebuild it in time. The people of Konoha need to realise that it's not the shining star they think it is. This understanding may help relations with other villages that don't have the same confidence in Konoha, though be prepared for a bumpy start."

Itachi wasn't sure if this was the best of ideas but it deserved consideration. The future would very much rely on the 5 great villages working together, perhaps shattering Konoha's holier than thou attitude would help bring them together. There was a lot to think about and it wasn't his call to make. "I'll discuss it with the third."

"Good." Sasuke relaxed and closed his eyes, ready to die, before a thought struck him. He jerked up again and looked into the eyes of the shinigami. "Wait! What of the other?" He asked the spectre.

The shinigami shook it's head. "Only you, Anomaly."

"Thank goodness." He relaxed again. Itachi seemed to catch on to what his brother was worried about. "There 's a part of him that wants his old brother back, Itachi. Regardless of whether he hates you or not." The shinigami grasped what Itachi could only assume was the time traveller's soul by the neck with it's left hand. A few tears fell from Itachi's eyes, bringing a smile to Sasuke's face one last time. "I love you, brother." He reassured the missing nin. A moment later the shinigami pulled the soul from his brother's body, which instantly stopped dead, it's eyes fixed firmly upon Itachi.

His time-travelling brother had sacrificed everything just to give the world another chance and summoned four people, probably from outside of their own universe, across kami knows what, with some vague hope against all odds that they'd be able to do something about it. Still, anything would be better than what sounded very much like the end of the world. He just hoped his brother had not given his soul up for nothing.

He turned to face the four people on the ground behind him. It was then that he noticed red eyes staring back at him. Unlike the other three this one seemed to be wide awake. Itachi wiped his watery eyes to better see the figure in the dark and to say the least surprised by what he saw; a young girl. His eyes scanned over the others. 'They're all children.' No older than the brother that still resided in Konoha seeking vengeance, it seemed. His eyes darted to the quickly growing pool of red below her left shoulder. It was then that he realised that her arm was actually missing. 'Oh.'

Itachi moved quickly, he would not permit any of these people to die, much less of blood loss, before they even got to Konoha. He crouched next to the girl and examined the wound, not that he would need to examine it to arrive at the obvious conclusion. "You need medical attention." He told her.

"No." She grunted and shook her head. "Blood." The girl looked into his eyes. In them he saw a fierce confidence.

"Blood?" He questioned, clearly confused by the demand. She nodded again and opened her mouth, revealing fangs and a reasonably long tongue, which she extended as if to imply- "Oh." This girl was just full of surprises. He took out a kunai from his cloak and slashed his palm before holding it out above her mouth.

The blood fell from his hand straight into the girl's mouth, guided by her tongue. After allowing her to swallow two mouthfuls of his blood Itachi quickly wrapped up his hand in bandage to stop the bleeding. A moment later a dark red substance replaced the blood pouring from the girl's shoulder and took the shape of an arm. It wasn't a perfect shape as small jagged tendrils seemed to appear along it. He wondered if she could use it like any other arm.

The girl gave Itachi a gentle smile. "Thank you. You might have just saved a lot of lives."

Itachi studied the girl for a moment, activating his sharingan, which attracted her interest. The chakra in her strange arm was much more dense than anywhere else in her body. Whatever this was it certainly looked like a jutsu, though not any he had ever heard of. It didn't seem that the technique was using any chakra either, even if it was practically made from it. That was certainly something to look in to later. For now he only had one question. "How much of that did you see?" He asked her.

The girl blinked and hesitated for a moment before answering. "I assume you mean relative to when I arrived here, wherever I am?" The man nodded. "Most of it." She admitted. "But I could only make out what you were talking about at the end. I could make out that man saying something about your brother before..." She paused and frowned. "What was that thing? I've never seen anything like it, and that's saying a lot."

Itachi simply shook his head. "Enough talk for now. You need rest." He answered. Before the girl could protest she fell into Itachi's genjutsu, and then to sleep.

---

This was probably one of the most uncomfortable awakenings Ichigo had ever experienced. He had yet to open his eyes but he could tell he had somehow come to sleep on a stone floor. 'Funny, I don't remember going to sleep at all.' He frowned when he came to a realisation. The last thing he remembered was allowing Tensa Zangetsu to stab him through the heart. That was supposed to happen, and as soon as the information he needed to perform the Final Getsuga Tenshou was revealed to him by the experience he was supposed to open his real eyes and leave the Dangai. Somehow he had passed out. 'I guess I was in there for a few months without food.' Not that his soul actually needed it. Regardless, he was sure the Dangai floor didn't feel like this.

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes, expecting a snarky comment from his father for passing out in somewhere as dangerous as the Dangai. But it never came. Infact he wasn't sure he knew where he was. His father was mysteriously absent and four people, none of which he'd ever seen before, turned to regard him. He could think about that later he figured, there was a power hungry shinigami about to commit an atrocity so he had a shot at overthrowing the soul king. He needed to go stop him. However in order to manage that he'd need one very important piece of information.

"Where am I?" Asked the orange haired teen. He now noticed that it was a little longer than he remembered. He had to remind himself, again, that he'd just spent a very long time, at least relatively, in the Dangai, and also in his mind. He obviously hadn't seen his body in a while. When no answer came he let out his frustration. "Where am I?! I've gotta save my town from a madman and-!"

"Quiet." Interrupted the strangely dressed dark haired man. "Whatever you were doing before you got here, I'm afraid you're going to have to forget about it."

This... didn't go down well. At all. "What?! I don't know who you are but if you think you can convince me to let everyone down you're going to regret it!" He turned to leave out of the only entrance he could see.

The dark haired man suddenly appeared in front of him. Ichigo had seen it of course, he was quite used to high speeds himself. It surprised him though that this was actual running speed and not a flash step. The man held up a hand in a placating manner and spoke again. "Hear me out, will you? Whatever it was you were doing your situation has changed. There is literally nothing you can do to change that." Ichigo's frown turned from one of anger to one of confusion. "As for where you are, that will require a little explanation. For your information the three behind you are in the same situation."

Ichigo turned to examine the other three who, according to this man, were in his same position. The boys, at least, certainly didn't look very comfortable. The blond boy looked as if he was going to explode, whether in anger or tears he couldn't say but he could almost feel the tension radiating off him. The brown haired boy's eyes darted back and forth across the ground, clearly thinking hard about his situation. The girl on the other hand seemed to be handling the situation fine.

He heard the man behind him begin to speak. "Now that you're all awake I can explain to you what I know. Come closer you three, I'd rather not have to repeat something as strange as this." Ichigo turned to face the man again, the others moved to his flanks, seemingly just as interested in answers as the orange haired shinigami.

"Can we start with names first actually?" Asked the blond boy. "If you're asking us to trust each other names would be a good place to start."

"A reasonable request, were it not for the fact that people can give fake names." Countered the man. "Not that it'll matter, you're almost guaranteed to have never have heard of each other, regardless of who you were before you got here. In that light I don't see why not." He shrugged. "I guess I'll go first. My name is Uchiha Itachi."

Nothing happened. As he expected, these people had no idea they had just heard the name of someone world infamous for 'single handedly' slaughtering the 'entirety' of his own, extremely powerful and more extremely well known clan. There was no chance that anyone in this world with clothes anywhere near as good as these would not know his name.

Just as well, they'd never trust him if they knew.

The blonde girl embarrassingly rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "Well I guess I'll go first then." She suggested, giving a small wave with her left hand. It was then that the three boys noticed the strange, somewhat creepy and sinister looking appendage. "I'm Seras Victoria, nice to meet you." When she didn't get any response she realised they were distracted. She followed their gaze to her arm. "Oh, don't worry about this." She tried to reassure, now waving her hands about in a placating manner. "It's under my control and I promise I won't attack any of you." She chuckled nervously. If they'd known she had left out that she'd been unable to change it's arm like she usually could and that she felt a craving for blood she'd never experienced outside of battle she might have had a situation on her hands.

"Why do I keep running into crazy people?" Sighed the blond boy. His self pity drew the attention of the others, something he didn't fail to notice. He groaned. "It seems I'm next then." The boy straightened up and tried his best to look confident. He wasn't doing a very good job. "My name is Edward Elric, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist. Please just call me Ed or Fullmetal, I'm used to them the most."

"Alchemy?" Asked the brown haired boy. "You mean that ancient precursor to modern chemistry that never actually worked?"

The blond haired boy frowned. "Never actually worked? Are you serious? Alchemy is at the forefront of science! Sure, a transmutation might occasionally go horribly wrong, but it has solved many more problems than it has caused! And as for chemistry, isn't that the basic manipulation of su-"

"Enough." Interrupted the Uchiha. "When you hear what I have to say you'll realise that it's pointless arguing over how some things in the world work. Others might be relevant, but it will quickly become apparent as to those that are and those that aren't."

There was silence for a moment before the orange haired boy spoke up. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. Nice to meet you." The others nodded in response, the girl even going as far as smiling.

Eyes turned to the brown haired boy. In truth he wanted to give them his real surname. He'd been hiding it for so long that he kept forgetting that the one he used instead was a fake, as he and his sister were in hiding, presumed dead. He sighed. He couldn't let spur of the moment emotions dictate such a potentially dangerous decision. The man said nobody would know each other's names for some reason, but that could have just been a trick. Hell, it could all be an elaborate trick. For now he'd have to give his fake name. If he believed they could be trusted with the information later he might give them his real name. Shrugging, he gave the name he had been using instead of his own. "My name is Lelouch Lamperouge." He noticed Itachi's brow rise ever so slightly before quickly returning to normal. Clearly he had his suspicions.

But instead of voicing them the man just nodded. "I guess I'll get right to the point then." He said. "Brace yourselves." He extended his hand to point at a body shaped wrap on the table. "My brother used a technique that summoned you here. He called it Tajigen Ihan, or Multidimensional Violation." The four of them semed to catch on quite quickly, their faces had quickly changed from confusion to shock, amazement and disbelief. "I can only assume he brought you here from a different universe of sorts. Perhaps more than one."

There was a thick silence before the brown haired boy started laughing. Itachi quickly made a lone handsign, took a deep breath and turned away from the group. He raised his hand to his mouth and did something that amazed his company. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He called out before breathing out a jet of fire down the adjoining hallway for a number of seconds before releasing it. He turned around and sure enough the faces of his spectators were a mixture of disbelief and amazement.

"Different universe?!" Asked the brown haired boy, now in shock. "I have important things I need to do in my own! I can't be here!" He shouted. Being the secret leader of a rebellion against the most powerful, authoritarian and widest spanning empire on the globe was a big commitment. And it wasn't like they could manage without him either. His involvement had practically turned the whole situation around. Hell, amongst the rebels his alias was idolized as a miracle worker. They needed him and that wasn't an overstatement or arrogance talking.

The boy who called himself Ed seemed to be thinking along similar lines. "Same here! My brother is counting on me to get his body back!" That raised a few eyebrows. "If I can't get back he'll be stuck as a suit of armour forever!" Unknown to him, his brother had recently learnt that the alchemy binding his soul to the armour was slowly failing. If he didn't get his body back soon he'd be dead.

"If you think that's bad, I've got to stop someone who thinks he's a god from killing everyone in my village so he somehow gets a chance at killing the real one." Ichigo sighed. "I was about to go stop him now that I have the power to do it, however..." Ichigo never took failing well, and he wasn't taking it well here either. He'd yet to display any further emotions other than his initial outburst, but Itachi could tell he was breaking down on the inside.

Ichigo turned to Seras, expecting her to reveal her problems with this development. Seras chuckled when the others followed suit. "Don't look at me kids, the highlight of my life was 30 years ago."

She expected the confusion she saw in their eyes. As a vampire her body had retained it's youth, something she rubbed in her human master's face whenever the now ageing woman brought anything related to age up. Since Alucard had disappeared and Walter had died Integra Hellsing had become pessimistic and blasé. It had fallen to her to keep her master in good spirits and despite the fact that Integra always made a show of it Seras knew the woman was tickled by her jabs. Oh, to be British and eternally young.

"How is that possible?" Asked Ichigo. "You must only be, what, 11 or something?" He laughed.

"What?" The blonde blinked and looked down at herself. The first thing she noticed, a significant change in the size of her chest. Considering the size they were before it was all the evidence she needed. "WHAT?! Why am I a child again?!" She practically screamed clutching at her now flat chest.

This outburst soon got the cogs in the minds of the others turning.

"Why am I as short as such a young child?"

"Did I seriously just accept being as tall as a pre-teen as normal?"

"What is this?"

Itachi sighed. These people were a handful. "It seems there may have been more to the jutsu than just summoning you here." Understatement of the century.

For the first time in a long time Seras was both angry and scared. She burst forward with a speed nobody had expected her to be capable of and grabbed the collar of Itachi's cloak, pulling him down to her level. She spoke calmly, but her face clearly betrayed her emotions. "How do I get my old body back?"

The missing nin frowned and gently grabbed her arms, noticing the texture of the other arm. 'Blood?' The action seemed to calm the girl ever so slightly. "Grow?" The answer seemed obvious enough.

The girl frowned. "You don't understand. I'm a vampire, I don't know if I can grow any more."

Ah. That explained what happened earlier then. Kind of. She wasn't like any vampire he'd ever heard of. He briefly considered her as a threat to Konoha. Just because she was summoned here didn't mean she wouldn't be a treat. Then he remembered his brother's words to the shinigami before they were summoned. 'Were they conditions? Why not just give names?' He gave it some thought for a moment.

How would anyone know who is out there in other dimensions? Surely even if they did it wouldn't preclude the possibility of many people with the same name, or many versions of one person with different personalities. 'That's why he gave traits and not names. Names aren't important when searching for allies, values are.' He concluded.

Ichigo cocked his head. "I take it you weren't born a vampire then? You would have probably known if you'd grow or not if were."

Seras let go of Itachi and turned to Ichigo and shook her head. "No, I was turned at 19. I'd already done all my growing." Her thoughts turned to her old master. "The man who became my master shot me through the lung to kill the vampire using me as a human shield. He saved my life by turning me afterward. I know it sounds brutal, but compared to my fate at the hands of the other vampire it was a great mercy."

The group remained silent for a moment. Itachi wasn't sure if it was because they pitied Seras or if they were worried about the fact she was a vampire. As much as he understood that train of thought these people had to trust each other, at least enough to change the future for the better. They couldn't doubt each other.

"My brother came back through time to bring you all here." He said. "He asked for people with certain qualities, not specific people. Shall I enlighten you as to what exactly he asked for?" The question was simple enough. Do you want to know why you are here and not somebody else? The answer was a series of positive nods and grunts.

"One of you is 'willing to protect anyone that deserves it, even if they don't like them personally.' and 'isn't afraid to break the rules to do so either'. Which of you is it?"

After a few seconds of silence Ichigo raised his hand. "That kinda sounds like me I guess. I've certainly broken rules to protect people, though I get the feeling that I'm not the only one."

Itachi nodded. "Who of you is 'dedicated to making a better world' and has, and I quote 'the intelligence, determination and heart to make it happen'?" This time it didn't take a moment before Lelouch raised his hand. He said nothing and lowered it again. When nobody questioned him about it Itachi simply moved on. "Someone is 'brave, heroic and powerful'. They apparently always know 'to follow the light, even if they're encompassed in nothing but darkness'."

Ichigo was about to say that sounded a lot like him too, but when Seras raised her left hand he was reminded of what she was. While the start sounded very much like himself the end... there were times when he'd lost himself before, generally when his hollow took over. He couldn't say that he always followed the light, as much as he wanted to. As a vampire Seras was certainly surrounded by darkness and as such there was much potential for her corruption. If she had ever done anything other than follow the light he doubted that she would still be a good person, and that would likely show on her even now.

Itachi nodded again and turned to Ed. "Then you must be the one who's 'compassionate and selfless, with the strength of will to endure the harshest of struggles to see their goals met'."

Ed seemed a little flattered for a moment, then looked to his arm and took off his glove, surprising the other four with a steel prosthetic, that moved too! "Well I've certainly endured more than most, though I don't think I'm really any more compassionate or selfless than others."

Lelouch gave a wry laugh. "You'd be surprised at how selfish and conceited the average person is."

Ichigo crossed his arms in frustration. "Well whilst knowing we're all decent people is nice we still need to figure out a way back to where we came from." He looked at Itachi. "Sorry, but I at least have an incredibly urgent matter I need to deal with in my own universe. I can't stay here or everything may be lost."

Itachi frowned but then shook his head. "Of course, I didn't tell you the price he paid to bring you here."

Everyone's attention was back on Itachi. "Price?" Ed had been the one to ask the question on everyone's mind. "What kind of price could possibly be put on this?" He asked in disbelief.

It was then that Seras remembered what she had seen when she arrived here. "That thing your brother was talking to..." She trailed off.

"Wait, when was this?" Asked Lelouch, turning to the wrapped body lying on a nearby table. "I was the first to wake up and I didn't see anything like that."

A smirk formed across Seras' face. "I was awake when we got here, though I was groggy for quite some time before falling asleep. His brother was barely alive then. There was this ghostlike demon thing floating over him. It looked like it had a hold of his soul somehow."

There was a collective gasp at as they quickly came to the only conclusion that seemed relevant. Itachi confirmed their suspicions. "That's right. My brother gave his soul to the shinigami to bring you here."

Ichigo stared wide eyed at the nuke-nin. "What? As far as I'm aware shinigami aren't capable of anything as grand as this. I should know, I am one!"

This surprised Itachi a little. "Then how do you stand before us? Why aren't you at the very least a ghost?"

The orange haired boy shrugged. "I don't know. I was out of my body before I came here."

"Body?"

"Y-" Ichigo was caught off guard by the question. Of course, if they thought he was a shinigami they would also assume he didn't have any physical form. "Yeah. I'm both human and a shinigami. My mother was human but my dad is a shinigami too." He answered, hoping the confusion would be settled.

Instead it only prolonged it. "More than one?" Asked Itachi in disbelief.

"I'm still reeling from the fact that there's even one in the first place." Explained Ed.

"There's nothing like that where I'm from." Added Lelouch.

"Then perhaps there is a greater difference between our universes than we first thought." Surmised Itachi.

"You mean the afterlife might be different in each?" Asked Ichigo.

"It might not even exist in some. We can't really be sure." Answered Ed.

It was about time the conversation got back on track, figured the black haired Akatsuki member. "Regardless, with the cost it took my brother to get you here in mind I doubt you'll find a suitable method to get into a different universe. Even if you did the likelihood of arriving in your own would be almost none existant."

"And there's no guarantee that we'll each find a similar technique in those universes if we end up in the wrong ones either."

"Precisely. You are quite perceptive." Nodded the Uchiha. "I'm sorry, but when I said you're stuck here I meant it." It was a harsh truth that these people would never see their friends or family again. Itachi sympathized with them of course, but he was glad they were here. He just hoped that they could move on and be happy here. His brother had bequeathed unto him the responsibility of taking care of these people and ensuring that they played some part in the future war. He wouldn't disappoint.

"I don't mean to be rude, but your brother clearly didn't take into consideration our commitments. That's selfish, regardless of whether or not it was for good reasons."

Itachi frowned and turned to Ed. "Perhaps, though none of us have any idea how the technique worked." He was grasping at straws, he knew, but there was a lot on the line here. Finally after a moment of silence the ninja sighed. "I know not being able to know of your situations is no excuse but the man who created the technique was apparently quite selfless. I find it hard to believe that they'd resort to something like this if they weren't sure it was the right decision."

"The truth is it doesn't matter if it was justified or not." Lelouch added. "We're here now, and that can't change." That seemed to bring Ichigo and Ed back down to earth.

After letting everyone stew in the information Itachi finally laid his plans bare. "My brother seemed convinced that you could change the future. I also feel that it is my job to watch out for you. With this in mind I feel that I need to take you to Konohagakure. There you can either find purpose or live out the rest of your lives, though I ask you consider my brother's sacrifice."

"Konohagakure?" Asked Ichigo "Village hidden in leaves?" He blinked. "Is it actually hidden by leaves?"

"In a sense." Clarified the Uchiha "It's home of Hi no Kuni's shinobi forces and also where I grew up."

"Shinobi? You mean ninja?" Asked Lelouch.

Itachi nodded. "Yes. The world's main military forces are comprised of shinobi." He turned in the direction of his brother's body.

Ichigo sighed. "I guess it's better than being summoned into a world of pirates or magicians." He joked.

"But..." Started Ed. "What about home?"

There was silence for a moment as they watched Itachi seal his brother's body into a scroll. Considering what he showed them earlier and how they supposedly got here they were a little open minded about the what could be done in this universe. "If there is a credible answer anywhere the best path to finding it will begin with Konoha." He replied. Honestly he wasn't sure about that, but all other things being equal Konoha was the biggest and best hidden village. Since these ideas were so radical it made sense that the biggest and best was the ideal place to go by virtue of probability.

Ichigo shrugged. "Then I guess we're going to Konoha."

---

The long walk to Konoha was, well... long.

At a moderate walking speed of 3.4mph it would take them around 2 whole days to reach Konoha from the Uchiha hideout. Unfortunately not everyone there was capable of the high speed travel most ninja were used to, which practically increased travel time by a factor of 10, and then some.

Even then, not all of them had both the stamina and the patience to walk for a whole 2 days non-stop. Instead it would take around 5 days. Lelouch had groaned in annoyance when he heard that, the others weren't so vocal but were quite annoyed all the same.

It wasn't two days before the group ran out of topics they felt they were comfortable discussing. Boredom however is a great motivator and soon enough conversation drifted. They soon learned of Ed's brother and the situation the brothers were in. Itachi couldn't help but feel bad about the whole situation considering the Elrics' plight. Lelouch eventually let on to his fear of fan girls, much to the amusement of Seras and Ed, especially when Ichigo and Itachi both hugged him from either side, claiming they were 'comforting their kindred soul' that had 'suffered the horrors' that they had.

The next day the group learned of Ichigo's mother and how he became a shinigami. He left out the part that would potentially reveal his hollow, but other than that the group would have a good understanding of the afterlife in Ichigo's realm. However when Itachi asked him to demonstrate some of his techniques Ichigo was embarrassingly unable to use any of them. It didn't take him long to realise that he couldn't use his spiritual energy at all. He couldn't even transform Tensa Zangetsu back into Zangetsu, though thankfully he could still communicate to it. Unfortunately Tensa Zangetsu didn't understand anything that was happening either.

The realisation that Ichigo couldn't use his old powers intrigued the other travellers. After a few minutes of cursing and panic the other three soon realised that their old powers weren't working. Ed was quite shocked that none of his alchemy was working, Seras realised she couldn't manipulate her arm or do anything she usually could if she needed to. She knew she was still a vampire though, that was confirmed when she arrived and was backed up by a thirst for blood she hadn't experienced in a long time. Fortunately for everyone she was very much in control of herself. Lelouch discreetly checked his reflection in a puddle to verify his geass would still activate. When nothing happened he remained composed and pretended nothing happened. Itachi noticed the action but ignored the fact Lelouch was withholding information.

During the fourth day Seras described her life in Hellsing and explained in detail the fight against Millennium. Ed and Lelouch found the story rather intimidating, whereas Ichigo and Itachi were used to situations they would have once called scary. When Itachi asked what a Nazi was Seras and Ichigo got to explaining, and when the second world war was eventually mentioned both he and Ed were not only amazed by the scale, but also the brutality and genocide. When the atomic bomb was mentioned they were visibly upset. Lelouch soon added that by his time they had developed things worse than '20th century' nuclear weapons.

By the fifth day they were only a few hours away from Konoha. Too many to spend the night walking. Conversation drifted back to Konoha and the universe they were in at the moment. Itachi explained the ninja village system and elaborated on the traits of each of the major villiages. When Ed asked why those villiages were the most powerful ones he delved into the 9 biju and their jinchuuriki. This set him up to once again explain why they were here. Now they had a decent understanding of the world today all the peices started to fit together.

Soon enough Itachi was interrupted. "Wow. That's a pretty big wall." Said Ed. The others looked into the distance. Sure enough they made out the large wall of Konoha. It was impressive. Must have been at least 250 feet tall.

Ichigo grinned and nodded. "I've seen bigger." He said. "The walls of the seretei were massive. But this is still quite impressive."

Itachi stopped and the other's turned around in question. "Before we enter I must explain something." The others simply waited for him to explain. "In the eyes of all here I am a wanted criminal and will be arrested upon entry."

"What?" Asked Lelouch. For someone who was supposedly good at reading people it had never occurred to him that the man in front of him could be a criminal. It wasn't like Itachi had really put himself out there though.

Ed was just as surprised. "You seem ok to me." He took another look at Itachi. "If not a little shifty." He added.

Itachi walked on, his face as unreadable as usual. "It is alright. I must explain your arrival to the Hokage anyway. He's not the kind of person to completely ignore someone just because they're a criminal. I can't promise you'll have a comfortable first night in Konoha, but by the time I'm done telling the Hokage everything you'll be more than welcome."

The others looked at each other for a moment. The man before them was about to give up his freedom so they had a better chance of being accepted within the village. He could have easily just decided to leave them here now that the villiage was in sight. Soon enough they followed Itachi towards the gate in the distance.

"I don't get it. Why go to such lengths?" Asked Ed. "I find it hard to believe that the villiage would turn away a few lost kids."

"We really don't know much about this world, despite what Itachi told us on the way here." Replied Lelouch. "With the suspicion these villages seem to have for each other and the general form of military they employ, including the use of child soldiers, it's not entirely unreasonable to think they may see us as enemy agents otherwise."

"That's certainly a good point, but that's not why he's doing it." Said Seras. "He promised his brother that he'd look out for us." The others seemed to take her word for it.

When they entered through the gates time seemed to slow down. Civilians looked at Itachi with a mixture of confusion and a little fear, the ninja mostly looked to him in fear. Itachi had stopped in the middle of the opening after the gate, as if waiting for something. Not two seconds later and the group was greeted by a large force of masked ninja. "Uchiha Itachi." Called the ninja wearing a bear mask. "Do not move. You are under arrest for the mass murder of the Uchiha clan. We are authorised to use lethal force if you so much as move without consent."

Itachi remained completely still. The others seemed keen to follow suit, they didn't want to be seen as any form of threat. "I surrender to you, Bear-san, though I ask you to leave the children unharmed." Responded the Uchiha exile. "I intend to explain them, but it is highly dangerous information and I will divulge it only to Hokage-sama."

The masked man seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding and waving his hand to a few masked ninja to his right. "Take them to T&I for now. Do not look into his eyes."

---

"A mass murderer? I can't believe it!" Shouted Ichigo. Itachi had told them he was considered a criminal. That being said, nobody had expected him to be, well, this.

Ed shook his head in disbelief. "His own family too by the sounds of it." He added. "Why would anyone kill off their own family?"

That hit a soft spot in Lelouch, not that he let himself show it. "We don't know all the details. We shouldn't judge him before we do." He replied, not entirely sure if he was defending Itachi or himself.

A hard voice came from the darkness in the corner of the room, surprising the three males. "Uchiha Itachi murdered everyone in the Uchiha clan other than his younger brother in a single night. He showed no sympathy to those he killed, not to his lover, his parents, the clan's children or babes." The speaker emerged from the darkness. He was tall and a long black leather coat did well to cover his well built frame. Two scars ran across his face, indicating that he'd seen some close calls in combat. He wore a bandanna over his head, the metal plate sewn to the front was engraved with a symbol that resembled a leaf, like Itachi's headband without the strike through it. "He does not deserve your sympathy or your consideration."

Seras turned to the man and gave an incredulous smile in response. "Considering the blood and piss I can smell from you I doubt you're really that much better than you claim he is." She moved forward, stopping a few inches in front of him. She stood on her toes to meet his face and flashed her fangs in a grin. "From what he told me very few people here or anywhere else can really be considered good people by any reasonable standard. Until we have his own point of view and then pick a side you should reconsider attempting to intimidate any of us. I promise you I can return the favour tenfold."

The man stared at the girl for a few moments before bursting out into a creepy laugh. "Heh heh heh. Not bad for a kid. For someone your age you should be looking more like him over there with the level of killing intent I'm putting out." He said, pointing at Ed, who really wan't taking this very well at all. His mouth morphed into his own sadistic grin. "I don't know if you're really as good as you think you are or if you're just really stupid. But believe me little girl, you really don't want to get on my bad side. Now, you brats are going to tell me everything you know about Uchiha Itachi, starting with how you met him."

Seras backed down a little and shook her head. "No, we aren't. Infact, a man is going to enter the room in a little over six seconds. If Itachi talked to your Hokage like he said he would then we won't spend another minute here."

Ibiki was visibly annoyed and somewhat shocked when a masked ninja opened the door to the cell. "What?"

"Sorry Morino-san." The man bowed slightly, "Hokage-sama has summoned them. You four, please come with me."

---

It wasn't much of a walk to the Hokage tower from T&I, maybe a few hundred meters at best. The masked ninja pointed out which building he was taking the quartet to; a three storey, round, tall building with large curved columns fixed around the edge of the roof. On the front wall of the building was a large red disc with the japanese kanji for fire painted on it.

Not many buildings were taller than the tower, but the huge mountain behind it was very noticeable. Upon it were carved the faces of four men. Itachi had told them about the hokage monument and who's faces were carved into the mountain. Itachi had also explained how the fourth had died to seal a rampaging chakra monster known as the kyuubi into his own son at the cost of his soul, just like his brother. Itachi told them to keep that information secret though, for the safety of the boy and Konoha itself.

They entered the building and took the staircase to the third floor. They passed the secretary who quickly notified the Hokage that the children he sent for had arrived. They walked a little further along the curved hallway before stopping at a door. The masked man knocked on it and few moments later they were called into the room.

Behind the wooden desk at the far side of the room sat a man in a funny red and white dress with a matching and equally strange square hat. A grey goatee and a couple of liver-spots next to his left eye defined his gaunt and wrinkled face. He held a pipe in his hand and mouth. "ANBU, leave us." His voice was rough and authoritative, but not unpleasant. The masked ninja hiding in the corners of the room all stepped forward and vanished with a handseal. "Itachi has... tried to explain you four to me." He started, removing his pipe from his mouth. He shook his head and chuckled. "In all my years I have never heard such a story, never mind met anyone who is supposedly at the center of a story like that."

Ichigo came forward a few steps. "How much did he tell you?" He asked simply. Better to just get it over with he figured.

The man grinned a little. "Oh, not a lot." He joked. "Please, take a seat. You'll be here for a while. May as well be comfortable." He gestured towards the four seats he had prepared for them in front of the desk. Thankful for a chance to sit down at last they quickly hurried towards their seats.

"Now then." The man started again. "Itachi told me his younger brother Uchiha Sasuke came back from the future and gave his soul to the shinigami to summon you four from another universe to help save the world. Or multiple universes, I'm not quite sure on that one." He explained. "He also thinks you've all... 'regressed' as he put it, back to a young age for whatever reason. Sounds a little weird to me but I don't think Uchiha Itachi would risk coming back here if he didn't truly believe something like that, or resort to something as elaborate and indirect as this to get something out of us."

Ichigo looked around the others, as if asking if they thought it was ok to discuss it all. When he got no negative response he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the old man. "What do you want to know?" He asked. "It's not like we really know that much about it beyond what Itachi already told you though."

The hokage nodded in understanding. "Well, we could start by introducing ourselves. Our names, what we do, or in your case what you did before you got here and anything you might want to mention." He sat forward in his chair and stowed his pipe away in his robe. "Tell you what, how about I start us off? I'm Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure. All of this hidden village's official shinobi affairs come through me and require my approval to be enacted of implemented."

There was silence for a moment. Ed spoke up first. "I'm Edward Elric, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm 16 years old and the youngest State Alchemist Amestris has ever had." He held up his right arm and removed the glove on his hand."I have a fully functioning automail right arm and left leg." He said, patting the his leg with his other hand.

"A steel prosthesis?" Hiruzen was surprised. Ed moved the finger's of his right hand about, surprising the aged leader further. "That moves according to your will too? That is impressive technology."

Ed laughed. "The girl who made it for me was only 11 at the time, but this is one of the best examples of automail going." Unfortunately he was no longer in his own universe, so he couldn't see Winry for repairs or maintainance, but he would leave that part out for now.

The hokage responded with a genuine smile. "Interesting. I might enquire about it in the future."

The orange haired boy nodded next. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I'm 17. This might sound a little weird in this world, but I'm a substitute shinigami." Hiruzen let his surprise show briefly before regaining his composure. "I don't know how the afterlife works here, apparently you only have one shinigami and it seems to posess capabilities that the ones from mine don't. Where I came from shinigami send the dead to what you could call a sort of heaven, though it's far from ideal. They also exorcise hollows with their zanpakuto." He motioned to the sword at his side.

Hiruzen had noticed the sword when they had first entered the room of course. "I'm surprised the ANBU officers that apprehended you didn't temporarily confiscate that from you. By all rights I haven't decided if you are a threat or not."

The group chuckled together remembering when they had arrived at T&I. "Oh it's not like they didn't try. You see, zanpakuto are much more than weapons, they are conscious entities and a part of a shinigami's soul. They also have their own names and powers." He slowly brought the weapon out and held it out so the old man could see. "This is Tensa Zangetsu. Normally it would just be Zangetsu, and would look very different, however I was brought here whilst I was using a technique called bankai, which increases my power and changes it's shape, in my case. Since my zanpakuto is a part of my soul I can summon it to my side, regardless of where it is." He shrugged. "It wasn't gone for very long, and when they watched it reappear with me they quickly gave up."

Well, perhaps he could let them off if that was true, he figured. It wasn't like him to punish someone for something that was out of their control. He nodded and looked to the other two.

Now that the weird stuff had been brought up Seras figured she should explain how strange she was. Recognising the man as a figure of authority Seras stood up before taking a short bow. "I can't say that you're about to hear anything less weird from me to be honest." The blonde girl started. A moment later she performed what the old man could only imagine was some sort of salute. She was obviously in from some sort of military or enforcement background. "My name is Seras Victoria. I would usually look about 20 years old, though I'm actually 49. Don't freak out or anything, but I'm a vampire, so my body is generally suspended in eternal youth." She noticed the man stiffen from the thought of the existence of a vampire, and his eyes harden as he analysed her. "Don't worry so much." She reassured with a smile. "I'm not like any vampire you have ever heard about, but I'm a vampire all the same. I'm very much in control of my thirst and am still quite human." The old man calmed a little, but it was obvious he was still on edge. Seras sighed. "I worked for an organisation known as Hellsing, also known as the royal order of protestant knights. I would hunt down other monsters like myself that were a threat to queen, country and the church, then eliminate them."

A vampire that played for the other team? He would believe her for now, but he was considering having ANBU watch over her for a while if they stayed in the village. "I hope that's everything, I'm getting too old for this shit..." He groaned.

The girl shook her head and giggled. "No, but any more will take a long time to explain. We can continue some other time if you wish."

The hokage nodded, but raised his hand. "One question. What's with your arm?"

Seras had figured it was coming sooner or later. This man needed to know if his village was at risk. "This is shadow matter. It is a form of blood manipulation my master and I were well known for. I can can generally control it's form at will, though since I arrived here I haven't been able to change it from this arm shape, which by the way isn't it's natural shape." She explained.

"Fascinating." Control of blood was unheard of, the closest thing to it being medical jutsu. "If they were here two of my students would be all over both you and Ed. Fortunately for you both one is a traitor and the other doesn't want to return to the village." Just as well. Orochimaru would been incredibly creepy and Ed could do without Tsunade getting up close for an exam. He turned to the last of the group.

There was silence for a moment before the boy started. "My name is Lelouch Lamperouge, 18 years old and a highschool student." When he didn't say anything else the others looked him in confusion. "What?"

Everyone deadpanned. "That can't be everything." Said Ichigo in a flat voice. Lelouch frowned but refused to say anything else. There was a collective sigh before Hiruzen decided to intervene.

"Son," He started "I don't care who you are or what you did where you came from, I'm just trying to make sense of why you're here."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The hokage leaned back in his chair. "Well, from what Itachi told me of these 'conditions' that the time travelling version of his future brother had given the shinigami then you're probably a good person." He shrugged simply "That being said I need to trust you if I'm going to let you wander the streets and I can't trust you if I don't know anything about you."

Lelouch was silent for a minute as he considered his options. "Fine." He relented finally. "My name is actually Lelouch vi Britannia, disowned Prince of the Britannian empire. I lived in hiding in a country named Japan, which was renamed to 'Area 11' when the tyrannical Britannian empire conquered it a few years ago." Shock. Royalty in the room? Well, disowned royalty, but royalty all the same. Ichigo and Seras were shocked for a different reason, but they individually decided to question him about it later. "For the past year or so I have been working as Zero, the masked leader of 'The Black Knights', a resistance movement aimed at toppling my family's empire and bringing peace to the world." He let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding in, and his expression faded into a remorseful frown. "Unfortunately you can't change the world without getting your hands dirty."

Hiruzen knew that tone. "You sound as if you've already experienced the more questionable side of war first hand."

Lelouch nodded, his expression hardened again. "My first move on the board was to kill my brother, who managed affairs in Japan." Jees, this kid had really experienced the darker side. Lelouch shrugged. "He was responsible for the massacre of an entire district of civilians to frame a resistance movement in the area, as well as countless other atrocities like it. I fooled all of his guards, entered his throne room when he was alone, revealed myself then, after getting some information that I needed, I killed him, despite his incessant begging." The colour drained from Ed and Ichigo's faces. All this time the brown haired boy had seemed timid and weak; a bad catch on the shinigami's part. "This was before I became Zero." There was one thing he would have changed though. "Many innocent civilians, both Britannian and Japanese, have died as a result of my rebellion, many more than needed to. I tret the strategy of war like a chess game, willing to sacrifice pieces for the opportunity to take bigger ones. I have lied to and manipulated all of my comrades. I have done all these things, and though I hate myself for the things I have done I would do almost all of them again if I had to." He paused for a moment to father his thoughts, then relaxed and let out a sigh. "I understand if you do not feel as if you can trust me. Honestly, if I can't get back then I don't really care what you do with me."

The hokage gave him a reassuring glance. "From what you have told me I don't think I personally have to worry about you that much. You sound like a good person at heart. As much as we may wish for peace and stay our hands from blood, sometimes war is brought to us by those that truly wish for it. In that situation we can choose to let them continue or work to end it. War is a disgustingly dirty business, civilians die through the actions of all parties. That is unavoidable, don't be so hard on yourself. As for when you got your own hands dirty... cutting the head off a snake is alway safer than trying to beat it to submission."

Lelouch was silent. The man had dismissed his actions as those of a leader doing whatever was necessary for the net gain of the people. He had left out his geass of course, but he hadn't been able to use it since he got here so telling the old man would surely change his opinion. For now he would forget about it, if his geass returned he would report it. Hopefully by then he would be trusted enough to avoid the any problems.

Hiruzen took out a few papers from the draw and began writing. "Apparently you are here because someone with enough power and knowledge to destroy the world decided that we'll never have lasting peace." He turned over the sheet he was writing on. "If what Itachi says is true then Uchiha Obito could very well be the death of us all unless you four fulfil whatever purpose this future version of his brother summoned you here for." He moved the sheet he was writing on to the side then began on another.

Ichigo spoke up first. "I don't know how exactly I can help other than fight, but you'll have that at least." He nodded.

"Same here." Agreed Seras "Master would want me to do this, if only because it sounds like a lot of fun." The hokage pushed another paper to the side.

"I never enjoyed being involved with the military, to me it was just the means to an end." Ed began. "But if it's that important that we do this then I couldn't live with myself if you lost because I wasn't there to help." He smiled and raised a thumb. "Count me in."

They turned to the last member of their quartet, who seemed deep in thought. Seras brought him out of it. "Lelouch?" He flinched and turned to the old man behind the desk.

"This world is technologically very different to my own. We flew around in giant robots most of the time, so I don't have any relevant combat experience." He explained. "Besides, we're in children's bodies again. How useful could I possibly be to you?"

Hiruzen just smirked and pushed another peice of paper to the side. "How about I enroll you into our academy? You'll learn how to fight and use chakra there."

Ichigo perked up. "Chakra? I've heard of that somewhere before."

Hiruzen nodded. "Chakra is like a life force. It is a mixture of physical and spiritual energy. As ninja we use it to perform jutsu, for example." He made a hand seal. "Henge!" There was a puff of smoke that hid the man from view. It soon cleared to reveal another Seras, accurate to the last detail.

The eyes of the original shot open. "Whoa! That's pretty cool!" She jumped forward to inspect the illusion. She pulled back when she was done. If it wasn't for her 'third eye' as Alucard had labelled it she would have sworn it was another Seras before her.

When Hiruzen spoke he sounded just like Seras. "This is just a basic technique. You will learn it in the academy." There was another puff of smoke and the hokage was back in his seat. He spoke with his own voice again. "There are so many others. An incredible number, infact. Ranging from things as simple as that to complex illusions, to control of the elements, to the manipulation of space-time. Even to the jutsu that brought you here, it seems."

Ed quickly came to a realisation. "Itachi showed us a fire technique a few days ago. It sounds a little like alchemy without the transmutation circles and instead of using physical ingredients as a medium of exchange you use this chakra stuff."

Seras blinked. "That's not any alchemy I've ever heard of." Ed turned to her confused, it had come up before, but exactly what her version of alchemy consisted of was still unknown to him.

Lelouch spoke up before Ed had the chance. "We're from different dimensions. There's a good chance it means something a little different to what we're used to." That made sense they figured. The shinigami here was different to the shinigami back in Ichigo's universe and Seras didn't seem like any vampire they had ever heard of before. There could be many more things that were different here. Hiruzen pushed the last paper to the side.

Hiruzen grunted in agreement. "If you don't mind I'd like to get one of my most trusted ninja to verify you say who you are by reading your minds. This has been a very interesting discussion and it all sounds too crazy to be made up, but as Hokage I must be sure." Lelouch winced, if someone read his mind they would undoubtedly learn of his geass. "If it would make you feel better you can all stay in the same room. He is quite vulnerable when using the jutsu, so if he tries anything you can quickly do something about it."

Seras wasn't bothered by the idea, infact it was an amusing prospect."Make sure he's got a strong stomach." She joked.

Hiruzen chuckled and placed his pipe back into his mouth. "He's the head of our Torture and Interrogation department, he's seen a lot of horrifying things." When they all tensed he realised that maybe bringing that information up wasn't a great idea. "Oh don't worry, he won't torture you. You might feel a little weird with someone poking around your memories though. He'll also make sure to stay out of your more personal memories."

Lelouch was still worried that his geass would be discovered but if he declined then he would look suspicious. "He will be keeping all this information secret, yes?"

"Yes. He will only discuss it with us and only in absolute privacy."

They looked to each other for a moment, before turning back to the hokage. Ichigo spoke for them. "We accept."

"Good." Hiruzen smiled, this could have gone much worse than it had, even if Itachi had always been a double agent. He pressed down a button attached to a small, well hidden microphone. "Get me Yamanaka Inoichi."

---

OK. That's about it for today. If there are any spelling/grammar issues I would appreciate it if you let me know. As for an update schedule... I can't guarantee that I'll be able to stick to one. I'm looking to keep chapters about this length, if not a little shorter. With that in mind it'll probably be 1-3 months until the next chapter, depending on my free time, any inspiration e.t.c. as I have other things to work on, including other fics that I might mention in future notes (this one will remain my main focus though).

Alright then, who thinks they can guess all 5 main pairings? Winner gets to decide what happens (within reason) at two major plot points, which will remain undisclosed for now. Competition ends with the end of the chuunin exam arc (probably around chapter 10-12).

Til next time!