It had been approximately one week since Pein had sent the children out of the mountainside base and into the wider world to make a name for themselves. To some people, that might not seem like very much time at all, but to a certain blue-haired girl with gills on her cheeks and Sharingan in her eyes, it was too much wasted time.

Tenshi sighed and stared at the sky above her, as if the clouds drifting past would offer her some advice on what to do now. Really, you'd think that for a genius like her it would be easier to come up with a way to become an infamous criminal! But as the facts stood, Tenshi was at a loss.

"Stop sulking," a voice called out from a nearby campsite. "It's only been a week, Tenshi; even your dad needed a couple years to become ANBU."

Tenshi looked to the side to see Boom sitting by the campfire, molding a clump of clay between her pale fingers. For once the younger girl's bright red hair had been tied back into a ponytail, allowing the explosive artist to work without strands of red falling into her line of vision. "Boom, we've been gone a week and haven't even burned down a village or anything yet! I'm sure regular ninjas that are trained in proper ninja academies would be way ahead of us by now, given the same situation."

Boom turned to look at Tenshi, a puzzled look on her face. "What's with you, Tenshi? You're supposed to be the one of us with the brains and the intricate plans. Panicking's totally my thing."

Tenshi shook her head. "Sorry. But you understand why I'm worried, don't you?"

Boom nodded as she absent-mindedly continued to mold her clay. "Yeah. If we have to go back home and admit failure…I don't think I could ever look Dei-dei in the eye again."

"Poppa would be sad but really understanding, and dad…" Tenshi shook her head, not even wanting to imagine what the elder Uchiha would think of her. "Regardless, we only have two years to try and prove ourselves, and we've spent a week drifting from country to country trying to come up with a good way to make a name for ourselves."

"So far, we've got thieves, bodyguards, assassins, terrorists, or politicians on the list," Boom ticked off on her fingers. "And while those are all equally evil, they're not quite right for our skills, huh?"

Tenshi shook her head. "We need to give them a unique twist. There are tons of different explosives in the world, but Deidara made a name for himself as a bomber above all others. Poppa can't be beaten on water, Hidan and Kakuzu are immortal, Sasori conquered a country with his art, Kakuzu and Hidan are both immortal, Konan has those crazy origami tricks, Pein has his Rinnegan, and until I came along dad was the youngest ever Sharingan user. That's a lot to live up to, even more so when you consider that we children were made by combinations of those ninjas. We can't just be great ninjas, Boom; we have to be ninjas that can surpass even our parents in skill and renown."

"Yeesh, when you put it that way I can see why you're getting so stressed out."

"Exactly." Tenshi walked over to the fire and pulled a fish off the spit it had been cooking on; no point moping on an empty stomach, right? "But, our parents were paired up because their skills complemented each other in the first place, right? Therefore, their children should not only inherit a wide variety of skills, but also skills that are meant to work well with one another. For example, poppa's huge amount of chakra combined with Sharingan means that one day I'll probably surpass dad in genjutsu."

"Huh, when you look at it like that it doesn't seem too bad." Boom set down her clay and grabbed another fish off the spit, joining Tenshi in eating dinner. "Actually, that gives me an idea."

"What is it?"

"Well, our parents all have their signature moves, right? But they also know a bunch of other techniques too! So, maybe until we figure out how to get famous, we should focus on building up our personal arsenal of techniques until we find a combination that works for us!"

"You know, that's not a bad idea," Tenshi remarked.

Boom giggled at this. "I keep telling you, I'm more than just a pretty face!"

Tenshi watched the younger girl from the corner of her eye, admiring how cute Boom looked like this when she was completely relaxed and chowing down on her favorite food. It was beyond Tenshi's capability to resist scooting closer and leaning in for a kiss-

Only to be confronted by a clay spider in her face. "Tenshi," Boom began, voice dripping with honey and an all-too-sweet smile on her face, "you wouldn't be trying to make out with me while I'm eating dinner, would you? Particularly since you know that my bombs can still be detonated faster than your eyes can activate."

"Er, of course not sweetie," Tenshi replied, reminding herself that Kisame said it was perfectly ok to harbor a healthy fear of your significant other. Boom, satisfied with this answer, set down her pouch of explosive clay and resumed eating.

Tenshi, of course, chose this moment to pounce. "ACK!"

"First rule of being a rogue ninja," Tenshi grinned from above her pinned girlfriend. "Never let your guard down."

"You suck," Boom pouted as Tenshi leaned in to give her a kiss.

-meanwhile, several hundred miles away-

"Hey, Amaifuyu, where are we heading?" Hakushi asked, blowing his long blue hair out of his face. "You said you had a plan, right?"

Amaifuyu turned to look over his shoulder at the grinning blue-haired male. The two of them had been walking through the Land of Hot Water for a few days now, having only recently crossed the border. This was important for Amaifuyu's plan, but… "Hakushi?"

"Yeah beautiful?"

Amaifuyu bit his lip, somewhat nervous about what he was about to say. It was times like this that made him wish he'd inherited a bit more of Hidan's brashness around boyfriends. "I have a plan, but it'll only give me immediate gains, not long-term gains for our goal or really any benefit to you."

Hakushi cocked his head in confusion. "So why are we doing this then? Why are we back here in Hidan's home country, anyway?"

"Mum found Jashin here," Amaifuyu explained. "Did he ever tell you how he became immortal?"

"No, but I never really asked."

"It was Jashin's gift to him. Mum would gain immortality, provided he used that immortality to cut short the lives of others. Jashin gives to you as long as you give to him."

"Huh. Wait, so you want to be immortal too? I guess that's cool; but I don't think I'm up to ripping out hearts yet-"

"No, I don't want that," Amaifuyu quickly interjected. "I want something else. Something that no human can give me; it can only be granted by a god."

"Amai, what is it?" Hakushi asked, approaching the older teen and putting his hands on the little miser's shoulders. "You can tell me."

"I want to be a woman. Not the kind doctors can make you where they have to mutilate your body to create an imitation; I want to be a genuine woman."

Hakushi blinked in surprise. He knew that Amaifuyu liked cross-dressing, and disguising himself as a girl on missions, but he never quite took his thoughts to the next level. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Amaifuyu snapped, clearly growing uncomfortable with the conversation. "I've just, I've always felt like something wasn't quite right with me, and cross-dressing helped for a while. Then I learned how to henge, and the first time I transformed into a woman I knew what was wrong with me. I need to find Jashin and offer up whatever he wants, in exchange for this gift." Amaifuyu cautiously looked into Hakushi's eyes, thankful that he didn't possess the Rinnegan and thus couldn't look too deeply into the boy's thoughts. "Is that ok?"

"Sure, but…um, how can I say this…"

"Just spit it out," the dark-skinned boy demanded, mentally bracing himself for the worst. This was the part he'd feared; Hakushi outright rejecting him, making the rest of their partnership extremely uncomfortable.

Slowly, Hakushi brought up his hands to his own chest and made squeezing motions. "Could you, like, ask him for tits that are so big I could be smothered in them?"

"…"

"Wait, no, smaller boobs the size of apples so I have a nice handful to work with! No, better idea, huge watermelon boobs that we could use as a floatation device in the event of an emergency!"

"GAH!" Amaifuyu swung one of his curved blades at Hakushi's head, missing his boyfriend's skin but catching the tips of his blue hair. "You ass, I'm being serious here!"

"So am I!" Hakushi protested as he dodged another swipe. "I'm not stupid, Amai, I knew you were going to go beyond dressing up like a girl one day! Seriously, when's the last time you even wore a pair of boxers or went without shaving everything?"

Amaifuyu briefly stopped his assault at these words. "Really?"

"Yeah! But I always figured that you'd try to learn some longer lasting henge, or just go to a city to have the doctors perform a surgery on you. Having a god of death take care of everything's not too weird, all things considered."

"You mean that?" Amaifuyu asked, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes.

"Shit, don't cry babe," Hakushi begged, wrapping powerful arms around the teen's petite frame. "Of course I do. You're my best friend and the hottest thing I've ever seen; adding boobs will only make you better! And girls live longer than boys usually, so we can be together for longer too!"

Amaifuyu laughed and squeezed Hakushi close. "You're the best boyfriend in the world, you know that?"

"Of course," Hakushi replied with a wide grin. "I mean, think about it. The only real downside to you becoming a girl is that I'll have to use condoms when we get around to having sex so I don't knock you up with lots of babies."

WHAM

"Jashin-sama," Amaifuyu begged, clutching his pendant and ignoring a whimpering Hakushi who was now curled up in a ball on the ground, "please don't judge me based on the company I keep."

-meanwhile, in yet another country-

"I wonder what Tenshi and Boom are up to right now," Ahato murmured, strolling leisurely across the surface of a stream in Wave country.

"Why does it matter, mistress?" Heki asked, Rinnegan eyes carefully keeping a lookout for trouble so that the redheaded girl wouldn't have to bother with such a menial task.

"Because I'm sure that they're already toppling a village or assassinating a nobleman, like all the other genins in the world do!" Ahato snapped, shooting Heki a withering look. "I'll bet right now, Pein's getting information from Zetsu about how well they're doing-"

"Mistress, it's only been a week," Heki pointed out. "I doubt even they could have conquered more than a small hamlet by now. Tenshi's good-"

"No, Tenshi's amazing," Ahato corrected. "The youngest Sharingan user in the entire history of the kekkei genkai. The highest chakra levels among any of us children. And a drive to protect her loved ones that's so strong it's scary. My sister is a long-range type, skilled in ninjutsu and able to read Tenshi's moves almost as if she had a pair of Sharingan eyes herself. Tenshi and Boom are the perfect partners."

"I don't think we're too bad," Heki commented. "I can draw in opponents with my Rinnegan, and then all you have to do is attach chakra strings-"

"But that's not enough!" Ahato snapped. "Tenshi is an amazing ninja in her own right, different from either Kisame or Itachi. You and I…at the moment, the best thing we can be called are copies of our parents. My puppet techniques are easily as good as danna's, but they're not better or distinct from his in any way. And your Rinnegan is magnificent, but exactly like Pein's. Until we can get beyond that, we'll only be able to be on par with our parents, never mind surpassing any of our friends."

Heki took a chance and approached the redhead from the side, mindful of the female's volatile temper. He'd always wondered how Ahato and Boom got along so well, when their temperaments were so vastly different. Identical twins, but opposite personalities. "So this is why you've been so upset."

"How do you expect me to feel?"

"Don't worry; I doubt Hakushi and Amaifuyu will become more renowned than us in the near future. Besides, we work well together and are skilled in our own rights. Furthermore, a fully mastered Rinnegan is supposed to be stronger than a Sharingan, right?"

"Obviously."

"Then please, don't fret so much," Heki begged with a small smile. "Keep working on our Rinnegan puppet technique, and we'll surpass them in no time."

The ginger boy was suddenly jerked forward by invisible threads, and he didn't need to glance downward to know that Ahato had attached her chakra strings to his body. He was brought forward to look directly into Ahato's eyes, Rinnegan meeting bright blue. For a few moments, there was no movement or words between the two. And then Ahato tugged him forward ever so gently and kissed him on the lips, making the boy smile. "I suppose you have a point," she remarked. "For now, we'll refine our techniques and make modifications according to the enemies we encounter."

"So you'd like me to find enemies for us, mistress?"

"Such a good boy," she cooed, gently cupping Heki's cheek. "This is why you'll always be my favorite, no matter what." Heki, eager to please, immediately began scanning the countryside for any signs of bandits. Nothing like a little target practice to get the pair of them in the mood.

-meanwhile, at a certain mountainside base-

"Please Zetsu, just for a little while!" Hidan begged.

"No," the plant man snapped.

"What if we gave you enough money to take Tobi to a nice dinner, un?" Deidara asked.

"Not a chance."

"C'mon, a little peek won't hurt anything!" Kisame argued.

"My answer is final. If you want to complain, take it up with Pein."

"Take what up with me?" the Akatsuki leader asked as he entered the room, wondering why all of his subordinates (including Konan) were gathered in the living room.

The Akatsuki members looked to one another, silently trying to decide who would speak to the leader on their behalf. Itachi finally worked up the courage and spoke. "We wanted Zetsu to check up on the kids."

"Are you people out of your mind?!"

"Yes, with worry, un!" Deidara snapped. "My little girls are running around out there with no idea about what to do, un! We should've given them more experience or better equipment before sending them off, un!"

"It's not like we were going to interfere or anything," Hidan grumbled. "Just wanted to fucking make sure they're not dead or anything, Pein in the ass."

"Tenshi's Sharingan and Heki's Rinnegan would notice Zetsu as soon as he showed up," Pein retorted. "And just spying on Amaifuyu and Hakushi would not only be unfair, but make them feel inferior to the other teams if they ever found out that we did such a thing."

"But Pein-" Kakuzu tried to argue.

"Not buts! Honestly, you people were plenty dangerous and capable of taking care of yourselves at that age, so have a little faith in your offspring!" the leader, seeing how dejected the others looked, took a deep breath and softened his tone. "I know how tough this is; my own sons are out there right now. But if we can't go more than a week without looking over their shoulders to make sure that they're doing all right, how are they going to feel about their own abilities? It hurts, but this is for their own good. Please, calm down; considering that these are our children, we should be hearing about them in no time from our various sources. Mark my words; these kids will do great things."