Hello, everyone, and welcome to the last chapter of this story! Unofficially I guess, since there will be an epilogue after this and a deleted scenes chapter. I'll also post a note to inform everyone that the sequel is up when I put it up. In this chapter, the Akatsuki finally get some insight on how and why they were dumped into the TLK universe, and then go off to have a showdown with Scar. Hidan and Kakuzu stop by too, mostly to watch. Zira has also given birth to Nuka and already dislikes him. As for the Akatsuki going back to their universe? Well, you'll just have to read to see how that unfolds. Onwards to the end!

Zira licked the tiny bundle of fur between her paws desperately. She had given birth to Scar's cub, but he was quite premature and very weak. She sighed in relief when the cub gave a small mew, and placed him by her teats so he could suckle. The cub had a grey-brown pelt, creamy underfur and was covered in dark grey spots. He was very skinny and scruffy, and his eyes were not yet open.

'Perhaps he's so weak because I got little nutrition myself.. damn it, I've gone soft. If I was born like this, my parent's would've left me to die!' Zira thought angrily, and pushed the cub away. This caused him to mew loudly as Scar came into the den.

"What is it? Is the cub.." he trailed off when he caught sight of the weak, pathetic creature before him.

"...I see. He is unworthy, far too weak to rule. I name him Nuka, for he reeks of failure..." Scar turned away from his son without a second glance.

"Agh, shut up!" Zira snapped at the mewling cub, resenting it even more for what it had caused.

"...Zira? Are you alright?" Sarafina came into the den, carrying her young cub Mheetu on her back.

"No, I am not! My cub is a pathetic weakling!" she spat.

"Zira! He's just a cub, he cannot help how he was born." Sarafina frowned at Zira's attitude and padded over to Nuka.

"There there, shhh. I still have some milk left, little one. I will feed you for now." Sarafina lay down and pulled the cub to her teats. Mheetu looked curiously at Nuka from his mother's back, never having seen another cub before.

"You should just let him starve! In my pride, we did not tolerate the weak." Zira glared at Nuka with contempt.

"Well Zira, this is not your pride. We care for all of our young, no matter what they are like. What is his name?" Sarafina asked with a frown at Zira.

"...Nuka! A name well deserved, I think..." Zira turned away from her cub, choosing to ignore him.

"I can't believe you would treat your own cub this way, Zira. I will feed him for you, but he needs your love and attention." Sarafina curled up around Nuka and nuzzled him soothingly.

Deidara and Kisame ran through the jungle. Deidara's bird had oddly enough returned to him, and informed him of Konan and Nala's presence. They were eager to meet up with the others, but were confused when all they could find were Timon and Pumbaa.

"I can't believe them! They've left us to go runnin' head first into danger! What did I do wrong?!" Timon was sobbing on Pumbaa's shoulder.

Simba had been full of guilt for what he believed he had done, but had received a message from his father Mufasa, who implored him to take his place as the rightful king and bring balance to The Circle of Life. Nagato had poured out his guilt to Konan, who comforted him and shouldered his pain. All four lions had met up and set out towards Pride Rock, ready to take down Scar.

"Uh.. have you guys seen Simba or Nagato?" Kisame interjected.

"Well, actually, they met up with some friends of theirs, and they've decided to go back home to reclaim their kingdom! Timon's not too happy about it though..." Pumbaa answered with a glance at his friend.

"We gotta follow after them, hm! No way are they leaving us out, which way did they go?" Deidara asked, and Pumbaa pointed a hoof left.

"Come on then, let's go! No way am I missing out on a fight..." Kisame ran off, Deidara trailing behind with a cry of, "Wait up!"

"You know Timon, I think we should go too. We throw down our lives for a noble cause, and help out our best buds! It's a win-win." Pumbaa nodded and began to jog after the lions, leaving a stunned Timon.

"Oh sure, LET'S ALL GO CRAZY!" Timon yelled, but reluctantly followed.

Deidara and Kisame caught up with the other lions, puffing. They'd made it to some grasslands, a fair distance from the jungle.

"We're coming to help, hm! We haven't been sitting around practicing for nothing." Deidara affirmed.

"Good, I'd hoped you would follow us. Konan and Nala know the way." Nagato replied with a nod at the lionesses.

"You guys sure you want to do this? It's gonna be pretty dangerous..." Simba said with a frown.

"Simba, I've been lazing around in a jungle for a year and a half. I need some danger right now." Kisame said, flexing his claws.

Suddenly, Konan tripped over something; a stick. Only it was an odd looking stick, with some fruits hung on it.

"Ahh, dere it is!" a voice exclaimed, it's owner appearing to pick up the stick.

"And it would seem I have found someting else, yes?" Rafiki grinned at the lions, who just looked confused.

"Who's that?" Nala asked.

"I am here to show you de way! Some of you still don't realize your place in dis world, and I have come to help." Rafiki nodded at the Akatsuki lions.

"Wait.. I think that's the same monkey who held Simba over Pride Rock!" Deidara realized.

"Him? He could be insane for all we know.." Kisame eyed the shaman suspiciously.

"What do you want, baboon?" Konan cut in, intrigued.

"Follow me, and you will find out!" Rafiki began to run, and the lions obliged.

After running through an odd forest Rafiki came to a stop inside a large cave. It was no ordinary cave, however. The interior walls were covered in paintings.

"Dis is de Cave of Journeys. It holds all de tales of dose who have been brought here, and who are yet to be brought. You four and de other tree of your group are no exception. Come, and I will show you why you are here..." Rafiki gestured to a still painting of seven humanoid figures, all resembling the Akatsuki members in some way. Suddenly, the pictures moved.

"Do not fear. Dis is de magic of de Great Kings, for dey are de ones who called you here.." the images showed several ghostly lions surrounding the humans, and they collapsed one by one. Their bodies changed shape into lion cubs and they got up.

"Wait, you guys weren't always lions?" Simba asked with shock, Nala sharing the look.

"No. We were different creatures, in a world vastly different from your own. We were transported here one day and became lion cubs.. though I do not know why." Nagato replied.

"In times of great strife, de Pridelands, nay, dis world needs assistance from dose elsewhere in de universe. De Great Kings have chosen you, for all of you possess great strengths, and though you are criminals in your world, here you have been given a chance at redemption. You have done well, de paths you have chosen are good... except for one." the images all combined together, forming the shape of a swirly orange mask.

"Tobi? Uh, you must be joking. He's the dumbest person I've ever seen, hm!" Deidara remarked with disbelief.

"De one you know as Tobi is not who he seems. He is filled wit a great darkness, and though he means no harm to dis world, he plans to cause much of it in his own. He plans to use you as tools to furder his goals." the swirly mask changed, showing an image of a purple-robed masked figure sending out the Akatsuki into some kind of battlefield

"..I should have known this might've happened." Nagato sighed, and the lions turned to look at him.

"The baboon is right, he is not who he seems. He wanted to capture all the tailed beasts, though I am not really sure why. We cannot trust him if this is what he plans to do with us." Nagato finished, and this earned looks of outrage from the lions, except Konan and Kisame who already knew this.

"Calm yourselves. You can choose to follow him, or go your own way. De choice is yours. Now go, you have a kingdom to reclaim!" Rafiki smiled and raised his staff, and the images shifted to show a branching tree.

The lions nodded and ran, full of resolve.

Timon and Pumbaa raced to catch up to the six lions, all of them crossing a desert. They were getting close to The Pridelands, feeling as if some strange force was willing them onwards. They crossed into the savannah and Konan and Nala were the first to sight the grey, dry ground of The Pridelands. The hyenas were luckily not patrolling that section, so they made it in without much trouble. They slowed to a walk and Simba stopped to look at the land with horror.

"Scar... what has he done?" he whispered.

The land was covered in bones, the trees were twisted and dead, and there was not a blade of grass anywhere. Pride Rock itself seemed dull, lifeless. The Pridelands looked dead.

"It's like all the life's been sucked out of it.." Nagato stated grimly as he peered at some bones. The group got close to Pride Rock, and hid behind a fallen tree when they saw hyenas.

"Why aren't the clouds raining? This place must be cursed or something." Kisame exclaimed as he looked at the overhanging clouds.

"Maybe it is, hm. That monkey said those Great Kings are what brought us here, so they must be powerful. Maybe they cursed this place because Scar was never supposed to be king." Deidara said, surprisingly insightful.

"You could be right. We need to get in there and dethrone him." Nala nodded, then the lions jumped at a sound behind them.

"Whoa whoa guys, it's just us!" Timon held his hands up in surrender and the lions relaxed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Simba asked.

"We've come to help you guys out. We're with you to the end." Timon said with a nod, and Simba smiled.

"Ughhh, I hate hyenas. So what do you guys have in mind for getting past them?" he continued as he saw the cackling scavengers.

"Live bait." Kisame replied with a smirk.

"That sounds like a-hey!" Timon protested when he saw Kisame looking at them.

"We really need your help with this. We need you to distract them." Deidara interjected, and Pumbaa sighed.

"What're we supposed to do, dress in drag and do the hula?" Timon joked.

"Let's go, Timon! It's time to lay down our lives for a noble cause!" Pumbaa grinned, and trotted off, Timon trailing after him.

"Yeah, well, I was hoping we wouldn't actually have to do that..." he grumbled.

"Hu-wow!" Timon was dressed in a hula outfit, standing on top of Pumbaa. Pumbaa was on a bed of leaves with an apple in his mouth.

"If you're hungry for a hunk of fat and juicy meat, eat my buddy Pumbaa here because he is a treat!" Timon began to sing loudly, catching the attention of the hyenas.

"Come on down and dine, on this tasty swine, all you have to do is get in liiiine!" Timon hopped off Pumbaa and danced, and the hyenas began to move towards them, drooling.

"Aaaare you achin'"

"Yup yup yup!" Pumbaa had gotten up and was singing backup.

"Fooor some bacon?"

"Yup yup yup!"

"Heee's a big pig!"

"Yup yup!"

"You can be a big pig too, OI!" Timon finished, and the hyenas chased after them. The lions quickly snuck past them to Pride Rock.

"You guys, go find my mother and the lionesses. I'll deal with Scar..." Simba instructed, and they split up.

"Hey, what the hell's going on over there?" Hidan pointed at Pride Rock, spotting the exiled lions approaching it.

"Looks like the other Akatsuki. They'll probably try to kill Scar." Kakuzu regarded the scene with mild interest.

"Can we sit here and see what happens? This is the first time in fucking forever we haven't had to chase a damn bounty. Maybe we can join in on some bloodshed!"

"Fine.. only once." Kakuzu sighed and sat down next to Hidan.

"SARABI!" Scar bellowed from Pride Rock. Zira sat near him, trying to ignore Nuka as he batted at her. Kiburi and Kiujanja flanked her, dozing quietly.

Sarabi made her way through a line of hyenas, head held high as she ignored them snapping at her.

"Where is your hunting party? They're not doing their job!" Scar growled when Sarabi stood before him.

"Scar, there is no food. The herds have moved on." she replied neutrally.

"No, you're just not looking hard enough!" he said stubbornly.

"It's over! There is nothing left! We have only one choice... we must leave Pride Rock!" the former queen urged.

"We're not going anywhere!" Scar snapped.

"Then you have sentenced us to death!" Sarabi snarled.

"So be it!"

"You can't do that!"

"I am the king, I can do whatever I want!" Scar turned away from her angrily.

"If you were half the king Mufasa was-" Sarabi began.

"I AM TEN TIMES THE KING MUFASA WAS!" Scar roared and slapped Sarabi, knocking her to the ground. Simba saw this and roared, revealing himself.

Scar looked at him with horror, believing him to be Mufasa.

"Mufasa? No, you're dead..." he mumbled as Simba padded to Sarabi and nuzzled her.

"Mmh.. Mufasa?" she asked as she stirred.

"No, it's me." Simba shook his head.

"Simba? You're alive? But how can that be?" she asked with confusion.

"It doesn't matter. I'm home..." Simba nuzzled his mother lovingly.

"Simba? Ah, Simba. I'm a little suprised to see you... alive." Scar growled at the hyena trio near him and they gulped.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't rip you apart..." Simba snarled as he advanced on Scar.

"Simba you must understand, the pressures of ruling a kingdom-" he began nervously.

"Are no longer yours. Step down, Scar!" Simba growled. Nearby, the other exiles had rallied the lionesses and were slowly proceeding up towards them.

"Well, there's one problem with that. You see them?" Scar pointed a claw up at the hyenas above them.

"They think I'm king..."

"Well we don't!" Nala interjected as she helped Sarabi up. The Akatsuki were leading the lionesses along with Nala, all glaring at Scar.

"Simba's the true king, you're just a tyrant!" Konan growled.

"The choice is yours, Scar. Step down, or fight." Simba felt boosted by the support and gave Scar an ultimatum.

"Oh, must this all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree, Simba?" Scar asked innocently, making him flinch.

"That won't work on us Scar, we've put that behind us." Simba and the other exiles nodded.

"Oh, but what about the others, have they put it behind them?"

"Now's the time to tell them your little secret.. tell them, who's responsible for Mufasa's death!" Scar accused, causing the lionesses to look confused.

'He's setting him up...' Konan realized.

"I am.." Simba began, but Nagato interrupted.

"Bullshit! We were lured into a trap, that much was obvious. Just stop and think for a moment, Simba could never have known what happened that day, it was not his fault! It wasn't ours either, in fact, the most obvious culprit is Scar!" Nagato snarled at said lion, who flinched. Suddenly, thunder began to boom and lighting flashed, as if sensing what was about to unfold.

"Think about it, Scar's been envious of Mufasa because he wasn't king. He probably murdered Mufasa in cold blood so that he could take the throne!" Nagato began pacing towards Scar menacingly, and Simba looked shocked.

"Now that you say it... it does make a lot of sense, hm." Deidara joined in.

"Slimy bastard lied about us dying, who's to say he didn't lie about how Mufasa died?" Kisame began to pace towards Scar as well, and eventually all the exiles plus Nala and Konan were trying to corner him. Lighting flashed and thunder crashed, and Scar slipped. He managed to grab onto the ledge of Pride Rock, barely hanging on. A bold of lighting ignited the dead trees around Pride Rock, starting a fire below Scar.

"Ah... eh... oh, damn it all! Fine, I admit it! I did it! I killed Mufasa!" Scar yelled. The hyenas and lions simultaneously leapt, colliding. Scar managed to climb up and slip away in the chaos, unaware someone was watching him.

"It's best if we get into the den and stay down..." Zira whispered to Kiburi and Kiujanja, who nodded and obliged. Zira even picked Nuka up and pulled him in, albeit roughly.

"Finally, a good fight!" Kisame leapt into the hyena swarm, biting, tearing, crushing. He became awash with blood and organs, unleashing the pent up fury he had held in for so long.

Deidara grabbed a clump of clay he'd stuck to his mane and molded it into a large butterfly. It flew into the air and split into multiple butterflies, confusing the hyenas.

"HA!" the ground shook with the force of the explosions and the hyenas in range exploded into a mass of limbs and flesh.

Konan jumped near a dead tree, which was luckily fragile enough that she could create some paper out of it. Working rapidly, she created some small sheets of paper and shaped them into deadly lances. They rained down upon the hyenas approaching her, killing them fast or rendering them brain-damaged.

Nagato used his rinnegan on some hyenas as they tackled him, and they fell over, twitching. Nagato clutched his eyes in pain and shook with exhaustion. Konan was quick to notice this and moved to protect him.

Simba saw Scar slinking away. He swiftly followed after him.

"Hey, looks like things are starting to get interesting! Come on, I wanna fuck shit up!" Hidan ran towards the hyenas impulsively, and Kakuzu sighed.

"Damnit Hidan..." he ran after him, preparing to fight.

The immortal duo cut through the hyenas, Hidan savagely ripping off heads and tearing limbs and Kakuzu using his threads and various nature masks.

Timon and Pumbaa meanwhile broke Zazu out of his cage, charging into Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Nearby Rafiki had shown up, and attacked hyenas assaulting Simba with moves similar to what the Akatsuki would call taijutsu.

Tobi watched with grim satisfaction as the hyenas were decimated and followed after Scar. Scar was stuck on a rock surrounded by flames, Simba managing to jump in after him.

"Murderer..." he growled.

"No, Simba please! I am, eh.. family! Besides, it's the hyenas, it was their fault, it was their idea!" Scar pleaded, and above him the female hyena, Mayabi, who had been influenced by Tobi, growled.

'His time is over.. we will devour him!' Mayabi thought, the hyena trio behind her.

"You will fall now, Scar..." Tobi stated, activating his mangekyo sharingan. He looked Scar in the eye and placed a genjutsu on him. Scar saw Simba change to Mufasa, and Scar was now above the stampede.

"No.. no please! No... I won't let you! No more, no more!" Scar babbled madly; Simba stopped with a frown.

"You won't get me! You will never humiliate me again, never!" Scar laughed madly and launched himself through the flames and onto the ground below.

"Well well well. Lost, little kitty? You're not king of us anymore. We rule ourselves!" Mayabi growled as she approached him with the remaining hyenas.

"Help me, please! We're friends, aren't we?" Scar saw the hyenas in the stampede, somehow not being hit by the wildebeest.

"Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy!" Shenzi said, a cold grin spreading across her face.

"Yeah... that's what I heard." Banzai nodded.

"Ed?" Ed laughed sinisterly in response, and the hyenas advanced on Scar

"No, you don't understand! It wasn't my fault! No!" the hyenas devoured Scar alive, some of them being consumed by the flames in turn.

"Goodbye, you pathetic creature..." Tobi smiled with satisfaction and padded down to meet the other Akatsuki.

Pride Rock was a mess. Flesh, bones, organs, limbs, and especially blood were everywhere. The lions were becoming exhausted, but luckily the fighting died down as the hyenas ran off. Rain, miraculously, began to fall, putting out the fires and slowly washing away the gore.

Nagato and Konan looked at the rain with wonder. For most of their lives, they had lived in a village where rain was unending. Their friend Yahiko had once said it was as if the land was forever crying, and that he wanted to make it stop one day. But now the rain marked renewal, washing away the pain Scar had caused and heralding a new era of peace.

The lions, even Hidan and Kakuzu, watched transfixed as Simba ascended Pride Rock's main perch slowly. Rafiki nodded, knowing what the prince was about to do-become a king.

When he finally reached the top, Simba let out an impressive roar, marking himself as the new king. The other lions roared as well, acknowledging their acceptance of him. When they stopped, the Akatsuki padded together, but quickly collapsed from exhaustion.

"Ow-damnit. That was one of the best fight's I've ever had! Jashin will be pleased by all of my sacrifices" Hidan was covered in wounds, grinning madly.

"I just hope we get a profit from this.." Kakuzu muttered, sitting down tiredly.

"I'm only sad that I had no water to use against those beasts!" Kisame, despite being drenched in blood, was in a very good mood.

"I showed those beasts true art! They should consider themselves lucky they witnessed it, hm!" Deidara was bruised and singed, but had escaped serious injury thanks to his explosives.

"We've done it, Scar's gone and Simba is king. Thank Kami..." Nagato sighed, barely conscious from the battle. Konan quickly used her chi to heal him, exhausted herself.

"It's not over yet, Nagato..." Konan glared at the approaching masked lion.

"Don't even bother trying to fool us, hm! We know you're just using us..." Deidara snarled at Tobi, who stopped briefly in surprise.

"Using us? Whadda ya mean?" Hidan asked in confusion.

"Tobi is the true leader of The Akatsuki. We discovered he plans to use us as tools to start a war and further his own goals, and nobody else's." Nagato said, getting up after Konan healed him.

'Damn.. I don't know how the hell they learned this. Oh well, I have a powerful pawn waiting for me anyway. I won't need them for my next steps...' Tobi thought resolutely.

"Oh, you're right. Tobi has been a very bad boy!" Tobi sing-songed in his fool voice, even though they saw through him now.

"You can join me, and return to our world. Or you can stay here. Your choice..." Tobi said in his "Madara" voice.

"No. I won't follow you. Besides, this world is peaceful. There are no wars, no constant raging conflict between everything. I would rather stay here than be your pawn." Nagato said with determination, and sat down firmly.

"I'm with Nagato." Konan nodded, sitting with him.

"Me too. My art is appreciated here, and it's not like I have anything to go back to." Deidara smirked and joined the duo.

"That world was full of lies. Here, we don't have people skulking around keeping secrets so much. Besides, lions are a respectable predatory species." Kisame donned his trademark grin and sat.

"Screw it, I don't care where I am really, as long as I can kill and sacrifice. But I don't wanna be someone's fucking puppet." Hidan shrugged and sat.

"I can't trust anything in the old world. Here, at least most creatures have a sense of honor. Money is good, but it's not like I ever did much with it anyway. This world is just as profitable in it's own way." Kakuzu sat next to Hidan.

"We're with you too!" Simba called out, he and Nala moving to sit with the group.

"Fine. I can go on without you, my plans have advanced far enough. I have a powerful puppet waiting for me to use. But I will come back here someday. You will pay for betraying me." Tobi activated his mangekyo sharingan, and teleported back to the shinobi world using Kamui.

After Tobi left the pride quickly went about eating the hyena's remains. The meat didn't taste very good, but with how much they had it fed the pride quite well and they stocked some in a cave in case they needed it. As it continued to rain heavily, they drank from puddles forming on the ground. It was grim, but it was a sign that The Pridelands would be renewed. After eating and drinking they all slept, exhausted from the battle. It was unknown where the remaining hyenas had fled, but they had been spotted far off. Zira was viewed as a traitor at first, but Simba showed mercy and allowed her, Nuka, Kiburi and Kiujanja to continue living as part of the pride.

Hidan and Kakuzu left quickly, off to find another bounty. The remaining Akatsuki decided it would be best to stay at Pride Rock and all were more or less content. Zira was secretly furious at Simba, believing him to be the killer of her beloved Scar. She wanted a stronger cub than Nuka to be Scar's heir, so she went and had her way with a rogue so that she could bear a new cub. Kiujanja and Kiburi supported her, and were beginning to tempt other lionesses into joining them as well. Zira vowed that she would have her vengeance, continuing to neglect Nuka. Sarafina fed him still and comforted him, but still felt saddened that Zira did not care for her own cub. Mheetu had become friends with Nuka, and the baby cubs played together often.

Simba had chosen Nala as his queen, everyone approving of this choice. The pair were married, Nagato and Konan planning to do likewise. Deidara had fun blowing things up and showing off his art, Kisame was eager to get back into hunting once the herds returned, and Nagato and Konan felt they had at last found true peace.

Bam, finito! There will be an epilogue after this, detailing what happened after the Pridelands regenerated and what Tobi is up to back in the ninja world, to set up the sequel. After that there will be a deleted scenes chapter, with a few bits and bobs I left out of the story for various reasons. Thanks to anyone who read and enjoyed this, drop a review if you want and see you for the epilogue!