A/N: I might have the break after ch 22, but that chap will be a week at least in coming. Trying to write something to submit for V-day for you guys. Love your reviews!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

Ten years ago…

An obsession with Raiden and his abilities led Uchiha Madara to attempt kidnapping him. After losing several Akatsuki members in this endeavor, success was achieved. Naruto came for his son. He was captured and killed during the extraction of the Kyuubi. He sacrificed the Kyuubi chakra that would have saved him to allow Raiden to escape.

The extraction was incomplete, allowing Sasuke, who came four days later, to grab Naruto's body and run. He performed the forbidden jutsu used by Chiyo to revive Gaara. Naruto lived, while Sasuke died. Sasuke's soul was held by Izanami, goddess queen of the dead.

Raiden was in Wyatt Halliwell's world, enjoying a contrived case of memory loss. Naruto, trapped in Kyuubi, eventually got over his grief enough to contact his son, bringing the boy's memories back. At returning to his world to find his Papa dead and his Daddy indisposed, Raiden launched a campaign to bring Sasuke back from the dead. To that end, he enlisted the aid of Willow Rosenberg, witch extraordinaire.

Willow struck a deal with Izanami: if she brought the goddess an alternate soul, she could have Sasuke's. Raiden summoned Madara and killed him, providing the soul. Willow and Itachi tried to pull Sasuke from Izanimi's clutches but were incapable. Raiden managed it, though it cost him. Sasuke was revived and he went to release Naruto from Kyuubi.

Izanami, never having intended for Sasuke to be released, was furious. Yet she'd seen Raiden's powers when he killed Madara. She knew no human could ever have pulled a soul from her realm and was intrigued. She called Madara's soul to her and demanded information on Raiden. Madara gave it and agreed to retrieve the boy for Izanami, provided she let Madara use Akatsuki's souls to do so.

Unbeknownst to Madara, Izanami had something else in mind. She transported herself, Madara, and the nine other souls from the underworld.

***

Later, still ten years ago…

Izanami hovered over Madara, as he was the one to regain consciousness first. He opened his eyes and looked up at her vaporous shape.

"Ah, I see you are awake. Well, now, pay attention, as I have important things to say to you." She paused as Madara sat up. The others were stirring, coming to their senses, looking at her with trepidation. They listened as well.

"Very good," Izanami beamed. "Listen carefully. We are in the cave where Uchiha Madara stashed the Bijuus. I have integrated them with eight of your number to increase the success of your mission. Your mission is this: Bring the child, the one called Raiden. Destroy all who would stop you, all those important to him. Bring him to me alive and I will release you."

Madara, stunned, nevertheless possessed enough wits to ask, "Release us? Aren't we alive and released from Death?"

Izanami laughed, making the occupants of the cave shiver at the sound. "You may be released from Death for the moment, but I still hold your souls. Disobey me and you will be brought back to my kingdom immediately. I will know if you are not working steadily towards the completion of your mission."

***

After that, but still ten years ago…

They argued, some horrified, some fascinated by their new powers. Madara wanted to go right out and retrieve Raiden so that they could win their souls back. The others objected, feeling Madara's zeal had gotten them into this situation in the first place. Orochimaru was elected leader.

After some inner searching it was discovered that Kisame had the Eight-Tails, Kakuzu the Seven-Tails, Hidan the Six-Tails, Zetsu the Five-Tails, Sasori the Four-Tails, Orochimaru the Three-Tails, Konan the Two-Tails and Deidara had the One-Tail. Madara and Pein, as the most powerful of the group, were not given Bijuus. Besides, there weren't enough to go round.

Orochimaru, after listening to Madara's account of how Raiden came to be, thought to claim the boy for himself, but he was overruled. Everyone wanted the mission completed as quickly as possible; being enslaved to Izanami did not sit well.

They were not as they were when they'd died. Sasori was returned to his actual body, not a puppet to his name. Kakuzu only had the heart in his chest. Pein… wasn't really Pein. He was Nagato, since he was in his original form, no bodies or anything. Madara was younger, whole.

Hidan's body had not been removed from the Nara land, he discovered after a moment of reflection. This body was new. Likely Izanami hadn't wanted to waste time piecing together his corpse. She'd simply clothed his soul in flesh, making him look the same as he had before his death, yet leaving him unsure as to whether or not he was still immortal. He supposed that as long as the goddess had his soul, he was. He was pleasantly surprised to find his scythe leaning against the wall. He hefted it.

Kisame was jealous. He didn't have Samehada, and wanted to know why the bitch had supplied Hidan's scythe and not his blade. Madara said he would get the damn thing. Kisame mentioned the mountain where he'd lost it when fighting Uzumaki Naruto and Madara vanished, was gone for ten minutes, and came back with the broken halves of the blade. Kisame took it, remembering the epic battle with the Kyuubi that had taken place. Samehada was dormant, but used Kisame's chakra, once fused with him, to repair itself. Kisame felt whole again himself.

They decided to conduct a test, to see if Raiden could be retrieved right now or if time would be required to devise a more intricate strategy and learn their new powers.

Madara agreed with this plan. "He might yet be near the graveyard where they killed me. Let's go there and see. Perhaps we can learn something to aid us if that fails."

It was agreed. They stood and moved closer to Madara so that he might teleport them with ease. Halfway through the jutsu, Madara cried out. The others could hear him, but were unable respond. Something was wrong; what normally took seconds seemed to be stretching out to minutes. They seemed caught in some kind of opaque bubble that allowed light to enter but no sound. And they could not speak, under Madara's control of the technique as they were. It seemed night turned to day and back again rapidly, countless times before the bubble burst and they fell to the dirt.

They looked around cautiously, picking themselves up and dusting themselves off. They were in the graveyard and it was morning. Apparently, it was also Spring since the trees and flowers were in bloom. A voice behind them had them turning around swiftly. They saw a boy, blondish, of around 15 years of age.


Chapter 21

Arrival. Fight.

"Who the living Jesus are you people," the boy said.

Madara looked the boy over. His blonde hair and golden-brown eyes did not speak of Uchiha heritage, yet he recognized a kinsman. Something about the set of his features, his stance, said he had Uchiha blood in him. Non clan members did not come into the burial grounds, at any rate.

He wasn't sure what had happened with his technique, other than that it had gone awry somehow. It couldn't have been too bad an error since they came out where they meant to. Madara stepped forward, about to ask a few questions, but the boy's eyes were skipping along the other members of his entourage and they suddenly widened.

"Hey," the kid said pointing. "I know you!"

They'd been unable to find anything besides spare shirts and pants in the hideout, so it couldn't be the cloaks that identified them. They weren't wearing any. When heads swiveled to see who the kid was pointing at, they saw Zetsu, looking caught out and guilty. Well, the freak was hard to miss. Then-

"Oh… oh, shit! Holy fuck, you guys are-" the boy was stumbling backward.

Madara, by virtue of his Sharingan, could see the boy's chakra fluctuating as he turned to run. The kid knew them, was possibly Uchiha, and would consequently have information. "Grab him," he said to no one in particular.

While Orochimaru complained that Madara wasn't the one to be giving orders, Nagato used Banshou Ten'in to snatch the boy to him. The kid shrieked, struggling.

***

Shouta had one thought in his mind, obliterating all else: Akatsuki is here and they have me. I'm a dead man.

But he wasn't dead yet. A black-haired man sporting Sharingan, who could only be Madara himself, came around to face him. Shouta had his own Sharingan on and wasted no time. "Doton: Doryu Taiga!"

The river of mud had everyone slipping and sliding… for all of three seconds. The red-haired jerk holding him placed a hand on his head and suddenly Shouta felt his chakra being sucked from him. His hands, previously in the formation of a hand seal, dropped limply by his sides. He sagged in Nagato's arms.

***

Madara studied the unconscious kid. Definitely Uchiha. That could only mean he was one of Itachi's children, but he didn't remember any of them being this old.

Returned to life as he was, Madara's previous madness was gone. He wanted Raiden in order to get his soul back, but that was it. He knew there would never be any controlling the boy, and wondered if Izanami could handle him. Nor was his Moon's Eye plan currently feasible. Perhaps at a later time…

All this was to say that Madara enjoyed very clear thinking processes now, enough to realize that something was off. The boy had recognized all of them, though Deidara was without his eyepiece and Nagato's body was not well-known. He himself did not know anyone who would recognize his naked face. This boy had acted as if he'd been warned about them. How would that be possible if, to everyone's knowledge, Akatsuki was dead? Very strange indeed. He took the boy from Nagato.

"We will leave. The child, Raiden, isn't here. We'll take this boy with us and see what information he has." Madara stepped to a clearer patch of ground, noting it was the exact location that he'd died in. The others turned to circle him, preparing to be teleported.

"I hope this doesn't get screwed up like the last time," Deidara whispered. Sasori nodded.

A thud behind them caused them to turn their heads. They beheld a pink-haired chibi of a girl, holding a sword leveled at them. "Put my Shou-chan down."

The men exchanged glances. The what, now?


Sasuke kicked an overturned lamp aside as he went and sat on an equally overturned armchair. The thing was charred. He dropped his head into his hands.

Naruto leaned against a wall, one hand tucked beneath his elbow, the other covering his eyes.

Itachi stood still as Gaara jogged up to the front door and cautiously entered, surveying the wreckage. He came and stood next to Itachi, after murmuring something to Naruto.

Kenpachi sheathed his sword and put his patch back over his eye.

"All right then," Yumichika said approvingly. "Who'd like to go first?"

Yachiru had been hiding behind a grave marker, happily considering scaring Shou-chan by jumping out at him, when she'd seen these people arrive. The air behind Shouta rippled and twisted, revealing a hole these people tumbled out of. It wasn't like Garganta, but it was similar. Their reiatsu had hit her with enough force to have her grabbing her sword, something she was never required to do. Unsure of their affiliations with Shou-chan, she'd waited. And watched.

Shouta seemed to know them and was in the process of running away. The spell the blood-haired one used to pull Shouta was executed so quickly that she'd been caught off guard. Then one of the men had blocked Shouta from her view for a few seconds. She heard Shouta try to perform a spell, saw some kind of swamp appear beneath them all… but one pale man with snake-like eyes stamped on the mud with a reiatsu-enhanced foot and the ground was normal. The one standing in front of Shouta spoke, mentioning Raiden. So this was Akatsuki then! Yachiru narrowed her brown eyes. When she could see Shouta again, he was unconscious.

They were trying to take him away! Possibly through that Garganta-like opening. She leapt from her hiding place to challenge them.

***

"Oh… What a tasty-looking morsel she is. And how fortunate: I'm hungry. I feel as if I haven't eaten in years." Zetsu walked forward. The rest looked on, Shouta slung over Madara's shoulder.

Kisame stopped him. "No. Please. Allow me. Look, she has a little chibi-sword. A fellow swordsman should accept her challenge." He swung Samehada from his shoulder. He paused, looking at the girl's bright anger with amusement. Her chakra was quite advanced and strong for someone her size. Her clothes were very strange, very old-fashioned. Her eyes did not waver from his face, not even when he smiled and showed his pointed teeth.

***

Yachiru's distinctive bubbly attitude was gone. She was alone against these strong opponents. A line of sweat trickled down between her shoulder blades. Of all of them, this fish thing in front of her was the strongest. Her lower lip trembled before she could bring it under control. There was no way she could go up against this man or that monstrous Zanpaktou he carried. She could feel the thing's malice even from where she stood.

An idea came to her. If she could get Shouta, perhaps she could escape with him using Shunpo.

Yachiru shifted her grip on her Zanpaktou enough to flatten one palm at the one holding Shouta. She gathered her reiatsu and let it loose, performing a level one Hado spell. "Shou!"

***

Nagato stepped forward, and absorbed the jutsu, twisting it and casting it back at her. It was very like his own repulsion technique. The girl went soaring to crash head first into a stone marker.

"Not bad," Orochimaru observed. "I think I'll take her."

"She's mine to kill," Kisame said, walking towards her.

"And mine to eat."

"Be quick, I want to get back to the cave and question this boy," Madara said impatiently.

Orochimaru turned to him, intent on settling this issue of who gave orders once and for all.

"Not saying the kids are excused from what they did or that we didn't get a bit out of hand," Sasuke was saying tiredly in his defense, "but we're all under a lot of stress here. This whole thing with Akatsuki coming has us on edge."

"And we really don't need you adding to that with your sick ideas about our girl," Naruto added. He had his head leaning back against the wall, hands in his pockets, eyes closed. "As soon as Raiden gets back I'm having him send your asses back."

Ikkaku rounded on the blonde. "I'm afraid I have a problem with that."

"So do I," Hitsugaya surprised everyone by adding.

"I'm sure we can all reach some kind of mutually acceptable agreement." Gaara began.

Yachiru rolled groggily to her feet, reaching for her sword where it had fallen. Focusing was difficult, everything was blurry. Come to think of it… she hadn't been required to fight since passing her vice-captaincy exam. She was vice-captain to Ken-chan largely because he wanted her to be and that was that. She blinked, trying to locate Shouta. Her vision blacked out a moment, before coming back fuzzier than before. She sensed someone looming over her.

***

Kisame grinned. Killing children always gave him an extra special zing of pleasure, he didn't know why. He raised Samehada, intent on crushing her completely with it. He hesitated with his arm raised at the apex of his downward swing. Zetsu sidled up behind his left shoulder, breathing shallowly in anticipation of this child's sweet blood. "Hurry, Kisame."

The shark nin tightened his grip in preparation, widened his grin when she peered up at him. Her round face looked sleepy. He could see a thick trickle of blood emerging from her hairline to roll sluggishly down one temple.

Kisame brought his sword down with particular force, wanting to see her bones shatter through her skin-

-and felt the impact all the way to his shoulder as Samehada was blocked by a thin, ragged blade.

His silver eyes followed the hard fist on the hilt up to a black-clad arm, to a white covered shoulder. Kisame's gaze came to rest on a scarred face that gave even him pause… and Samehada was quivering in response to the chakra the man was pulsing out in thick waves.

Sasuke looked around the empty room. What the hell? Gaara had been in the process of trying to soothe everyone's ruffled feathers. He'd been cut off suddenly by Kenpachi whirling to stare at the wall.

"Damn," the tall man had muttered. Then he'd vanished, flashing away so quickly that he was there one second, gone the next.

"What was-" Yumichika started to say. Then his eyes widened before he was gone too.

All the visitors were gone. "What was that about?" Naruto asked.

Itachi frowned in the direction the visitors had gone before stepping up to his brother. "I, too, have a problem with them being sent back. I believe Ikkaku-san and Hitsugaya Taicho are close to proposing and I-"

"WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THE FUCKING CLAN ALREADY???" Sasuke bellowed, throwing his armchair at Itachi. "I'm sick of it! Sick!" Sasuke sucked in a deep breath. "Get out!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Get out, out, out!" Another deep breath. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Itachi started to back away, a hand held up protectively in front of Gaara, who had a cloud of sand ready to protect them as well. Naruto only looked on with a bored expression, arms folded. He understood exactly how Sasuke felt. It was just too much all of a sudden. He wanted to lash out at something. As soon as Itachi and Gaara got the hell out of there, he'd grab Sasuke and fuck him to a pulp.

A face-off.

Kisame and Kenpachi sprung apart, Kenpachi's grin hard enough to break diamonds.

***

Yumichika landed near Nagato, recognizing him from Naruto's description. If there was to be any sucking of reiatsu, it would be done by his Zanpaktou, the shinigami thought grimly. On the plus side, Nagato's hair and eyes were most becoming. Such an unusual and pleasing combination.

***

Madarame landed in front of the one with a scythe. He couldn't recall the name just then. He drew his sword and shrugged his shoulders in anticipation. Yosh! Deal with Akatsuki, then get back to Akiko's tight body and screams of delight.

***

Hitsugaya landed next to Vice-Captain Yachiru, making sure she was all right. He frowned. She would need immediate medical assistance. He scooped her up, using Shunpo to speed himself toward Asami. He'd come back to the fight once he'd seen to Yachiru.

No one moved. Even the birds were still as chakra and reiatsu were gauged, appearances taken in and stances shifted imperceptibly. The air was tense with anticipation, pregnant with violence waiting to be born in blood.

***

Madara couldn't care less. Let the rest of them take care of these strange sword-wielders. He'd hoped to have Nagato with him to aid in the extraction of information, but he could manage on his own. He didn't think there was a soul alive who could master him in Genjutsu. He turned to teleport himself and the boy to more stable environs.

Three people stood in his path, wide-eyed, trembling…

Familiar.

Madara froze, his eyes taking in the boy in the middle. His Sharingan revolved slowly…

No. It couldn't be. It was the child, he would recognize that chakra anywhere. And… yes, Madara concluded, the eyes were the same, the hair… "Raiden," he breathed.

Raiden flinched.

They'd been strolling along, laughing nervously at possible scenarios that would play out once they were back home, still holding hands. They'd entered the Uchiha burial grounds, and Aimi had looked around. She'd asked where the Uzumaki burial grounds were, and Wyatt had said, "Who are all those people over there?" Raiden had looked, started to shrug, and then seen Yachiru go flying. Aimi had gasped, starting to run to her, but Raiden stopped her with a hand on her arm, his breathing suddenly shallow, his throat shut down and his skin tightening everywhere.

Oh.

Oh God.

Oh God, Oh please, please no. Not today. Not ever.

"Hey… one of them has Shouta!" Wyatt exclaimed softly. Raiden searched and sure enough, Shouta was slung over-

He had to swallow repeatedly in order to even be able to breathe. They were here. They had come. That was Madara. He looked young and robust and so dangerously healthy. His hair was a black cascade of spikes, a blot on the bright morning, on Raiden's innards. Everything in him told him to break and run. But Shouta… Madara had Shouta.

Raiden took a step forward, barely having the wits to shut down his mind; he didn't want his dad contacting him when he sent Shouta. Kyuubi would sense his panic, tell his parents and then they'd come here and get themselves killed all over again.

Back when his parents had come from their vacation, he'd been so relieved to be able to lean on them that he'd half thought everything was taken care of. Especially when the visions stopped. He'd stupidly convinced himself that nothing bad would happen.

But they were here. The visions were true. And they were here for him. He couldn't run. He took another step, Aimi and Wyatt matching him on his right and left respectively. Akatsuki? Wyatt thought at him.

-Yeah.-

-Oh man. I'm with you, Raiden.-

Raiden took the briefest second to marvel that his friend was so steady when he himself was so fucking scared. Aimi stalked silently at his side, probably aware of who it was they were looking at. But she'd never faced them. She couldn't really be afraid until she'd faced them.

***

Four blurs landed amongst Akatsuki and that distracted them further for a moment. Madara was at the back of the group. Raiden saw Kenpachi block Kisame from killing his vice-captain and then the rest of Akatsuki was looking at the other shinigamis. Madara was backing up. Raiden stopped moving. He was about thirty feet away. He let go of Aimi and Wyatt's hands, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, noticing that his breathing shuddered in and out of him in an uneven tide. Madara was turning around.

I've never seen both his eyes, Raiden thought incoherently. Madara froze at seeing them, his handsome face registering a flicker of surprise. His red eyes swept back and forth before zeroing in on Raiden. Raiden felt his stomach cramp and his bowels loosen.

He'd been so young when he'd met him, his fear had been so large at finding out his pop had died. Right now, watching as recognition bloomed in those striking eyes, Raiden felt like he was still that helpless baby.

When Madara said his name, he couldn't help it-he flinched. It was that voice, that same voice that had put him in that horrible Genjutsu.

He belatedly remembered he couldn't fight Genjustu. Raiden dropped his eyes to Madara's chest and turned his palm face up, low down by his side. A discreet 'come here' curl of his fingers had Shouta folded to the ground at his feet. He uncurled the fingers and sent Shouta to his dads' house. As soon as his cousin was out of sight, he called up his chakra, dismayed to see how much his fear curtailed it. Nevertheless, he formed Death Sphere's in his hands. He could feel Aimi releasing her chakra at his side and Wyatt muttering a spell.

***

Madara couldn't care less for the loss of the blonde boy, not faced with the cause of his destruction. He took a moment to note how the child had grown. Now he understood what had happened with his teleportation jutsu. Somehow they'd been caught in some kind of temporal aberration. Several years had passed by the looks of Raiden, Madara surmised. He wondered what had caused the aberration.

Then he lunged at Raiden.

Itachi kept his steps slow and unthreatening, backing away from his brother's demented face. Obviously the strain had become too much for Sasuke. He needed a moment to calm down. Itachi would come back later when things had-

A ripple in the room and Shouta was suddenly lying in the rubble. He did not move.

Itachi was by his side in a heartbeat, turning his son over gently. Gaara came around his other side and Sasuke stopped his ranting. He came over to Shouta, Naruto at his side. They all looked down at him. Itachi could find nothing wrong with his son. He looked up. They all met each other's eyes curiously.

Raiden threw the Death Spheres, forming more and slinging them just as hard and fast as he could. He did this while screaming and dodging, losing sight of Aimi and Wyatt for the moment.

Madara smiled, the spheres phasing through him harmlessly. Raiden ducked as a thick bar of lavender chakra lanced toward Madara. He dimly noticed explosions of chakra going off around him, different colors, and then he cursed because Madara's fingers were close to his face, a foot, half that, almost touching-

"Fold!" he shrieked, and did just that, glad at last to give in to the urge to run, to just fucking run.


Naruto ran his eyes over Shouta and turned to say something to Sasuke. He never said whatever it was or even remembered it afterward. Kyuubi suddenly crashed to the forefront of his mind, overriding the restraints Naruto normally kept in place to keep that from happening. His mind was forcibly subdued so that Naruto blacked out where he stood; he was no longer present. His consciousness was kicked aside as Kyuubi quivered within him on full alert.

To everyone else it seemed as if Naruto froze. His face was still turned towards Sasuke, but his mouth only hung open without speaking. Like Naruto's batteries had suddenly shut down. They saw his eyes glow red. That was all. Then his blond head tilted back and he inhaled, one long, drawn out sniff. When he spoke, it wasn't his voice. It was Kyuubi's, rough, guttural… tight with some emotion that defied description.

"They have arrived. My brethren have arrived and they hunt my kitling and his den-mate."

Somewhere in Kyuubi, Naruto heard this and came surging back to himself, already catapulting towards the graveyard, unaware that he ran on all fours or that tails were growing as he ran.

This time, Sasuke was at his side, matching him stride for stride.

Gaara hopped on his cloud of sand and crashed through the wall as Itachi was currently dashing out the doorway.

Folding was never something Raiden thought about. He did it when he had to, like shitting or pissing. He never thought about the process or what it would be like to have to continuously fold, without stopping anywhere.

Yet that was what he was forced to do, because Madara was hot on his ass, like right on it, breathing down his neck. This continuous fold was like parting the atmosphere, reality itself, the way a fish parted water. The fish moved through the currents, yet water was all around it. Raiden traveled in this same way, everything around him a blur of streaked color. He didn't know if he was actually running – he didn't think so – but his forward momentum was unchecked.

He chanced a glance behind him. Madara grinned, traveling the same way Raiden was doing. Raiden faced front with a whine, trying to find more speed… except folding only seemed to have one speed.

Aimi appeared at his side, face shining with effort. Wyatt materialized at Raiden's other side… in the form of a cluster of orb lights. The three kept pace, barely ten yards ahead of Madara's murderous pursuit.

Naruto landed with a roar, Sasuke behind him. Itachi caught up some seconds later, his ponytail having come undone in his flight. His hair whipped about his frigid face in the morning breeze. Gaara zoomed up on his sand and hovered, already forming a hand seal.

Kenpachi spared them the briefest glance. Kisame was the shit. Best opponent he'd ever come across and the man hadn't even released his demon yet!

Kisame looked aside at his murderer. They'd been partners. The least he could do was return the favor Itachi had bestowed. Samehada seemed to agree. Death to Itachi!

Raiden learned something. He could not fold continuously, indefinitely. His body was tiring quickly and he could tell his sis wasn't faring much better. Madara was a few feet closer to them.

"Let's… call Papa," Aimi panted.

"No… too… dangerous," Raiden huffed. His muscles were quivering.

Only Wyatt seemed okay, but then Wyatt wasn't using his body. He couldn't talk in the orb state he was in, but he communicated mentally.

-Let's Boom then. He can't get us if we Boom.-

-No. I need to be here, to see what happens and make sure… nothing happens. To my dads and uncles and everybody.-

"Shit," Raiden said aloud.

"What?" Aimi asked.

"Everybody… Akatsuki is right there in Konoha, they'll destroy the village. I gotta fold them away. Damn," he hissed. "I can't do it while I'm running. Cover me, you two."

They did. Raiden stopped and found himself at the very edge of a cliff, an ocean spread out before him. He took a hasty step back, turning to find Madara coming at him with all the force of a mountain.

The orb lights and a flash of lavender swept Madara away as his fingers brushed Raiden's neck. Raiden heard Wyatt shriek before they were completely gone and then he got busy.

***

He was shocked to find how weak he was. He grunted at how much it took from him to locate Akatsuki, thousands of leagues away, and remote fold them out of Konoha. He cried out miserably at feeling his dads with them. When it was done, he collapsed on his hands and knees.

Then he was up and folding again, his senses searching out Aimi and Wyatt.

Naruto crashed into the Two-Tailed cat, chakra claws clashing with hers. Sasuke swooped and let lightning lance through the huge water dome Kisame had thrown up around himself and Itachi. He knew his brother could counter the lightning with his Earth chakra.

Gaara slammed his hands on the ground, an ocean of sand roaring out of the earth to fall toward Sasori, Deidara and Kakuzu. Madarame had his Shikai whirling against Zetsu and Yumichika was locked in a death grip with Nagato, each sucking chakra for all they were worth. Orochimaru performed a hand seal to aid Nagato, when a small, white-haired boy landed in front of him. A huge dragon of ice shot from his sword at Orochimaru's face.

Aimi managed to surround Madara with her chakra, throwing the hardest Genjutsu she could at the same time, a real brain melter. Madara screamed as the chakra burned him, before disappearing just before her Genjutsu could take root. "Fuck!" she cursed.

Wyatt solidified next to her, aware that he'd never heard her say that, while at the same time using his own senses to anticipate where Madara would come out next.

Which happened to be right behind them.

His hands landed on their necks and he opened a dimensional portal, already pulling the screaming boy and girl inside. The light of the morning was disappearing, closing before their very eyes as the doorway shrank-

A hand shot through and latched onto Aimi's outstretched fingers. She grabbed Wyatt in turn and Raiden pulled with all his strength, transforming at last, and roaring in rage.

Madara pulled just as hard, willing his doorway to close. Raiden was keeping it open, having snatched control of Madara's chakra through some insidious link he'd sent through the girl and so through to him. Madara let go of the boy and girl, putting himself out of reach of that link.

***

Raiden fell backward, Aimi and Wyatt on top of him. "Oh Raiden," Aimi gasped hysterically.

"Why didn't you fold, idiot?!" Raiden shoved her off of him.

"I panicked," she said in a small voice. She stood up, Wyatt helping her. "He's way stronger than I thought."

"He's way stronger than he was," Raiden said distractedly. He was staring around wildly, his wings held stiffly. "I don't sense him. C'mon, we gotta get to the others."

"Where'd you send them?" Wyatt asked. He looked a little worse for wear.

"That crater," Raiden answered. He held out his hand and Wyatt took it. Aimi stepped close to him and he folded them once, right to the crater itself.

It was a scene from hell.

Multicolored chakra spiked and fountained everywhere as the Bijuus, out of control of their hosts and running amok, fought amongst themselves and the humans. Raiden spotted his pop lying in a heap, his uncles nearly down and his dad surrounded by three monsters, one of them an ox with eight weird-looking tails.

Kenpachi had his patch off. He was bloody, sword flashing and slicing. He was the only one of the shinigamis still standing. Aimi's hands flew to her mouth as he took a blow from the Seven-Tailed Beetle. He did not get up again.

"Wait," Raiden shrieked, but Aimi was gone, transformed and galloping on all fours, her screaming roar making his ears bleed. He healed himself as he flew after her, Wyatt orbing behind him.

Madara appeared and snatched Aimi up. He raised his voice so that he could be heard over the din. "The child is ours! Surround him! Get him before-"

Aimi exploded, white light blooming out of her to freeze everyone and everything except Raiden and Wyatt.

***

She tumbled weakly from the stiff arms holding her. Raiden ran to her, eyes staring in amazement at the arrested battle around him. He fell to his knees by her side. "Aimi! Aimi?"

"I can't hold this for long. Maybe a minute. Raiden…"

He nodded frantically. "Can we use jutsus in this… thing? If we can, we can kill them where they stand."

Aimi shook her head slowly from side to side. "Can't. Time is frozen. Jutsu won't go anywhere."

"But we're moving," Wyatt said.

"Because I'm letting you move. People are different and I can't explain it." She sighed. "It's slipping, Raiden, hurry and do something."

Raiden positioned himself away from her, thinking furiously. After a moment, he nodded.

Working quickly, he folded his parents, his uncles and the shinigamis out of the crater, back to Konoha. He then called up nearly all of the rest of his chakra, concentrating it in a Death Sphere that dwarfed them all, hovering above the group of frozen Akatsuki.

Wheezing with fatigue, Raiden grabbed Aimi and Wyatt and had the older boy orb them to the lip of the crater. Aimi nodded, Raiden gave the okay and she released her hold on Time.

Raiden aimed the Death Sphere carefully, dropping it on the unsuspecting individuals and obliterating them completely. He let it dissipate before it could eat through the land and on through the whole planet.

***

Silence.

The crater was scarred, smoking, but empty. Raiden dropped to his knees. "I did it," he said weakly. He couldn't believe it. Had it really been so easy? He turned with a grin to celebrate with Aimi and Wyatt, those two already smiling tiredly but happily.

"Well," Madara said from a few feet away. "I guess I should have mentioned that we don't really have souls now, so we can't really die." Akatsuki was ranged to either side of him in a semi-circle, partially surrounding the three stunned kids.

The crater was at Raiden's back. "No," he whispered, pleaded. He was spent, he couldn't do anything but the most basic jutsus now.

"Looks like this mission was a success," Madara said easily. He walked forward, his body tense and ready to teleport at the first sign of similar intentions from the three fascinating children before him.

Aimi growled, halting Madara as he took in the white hair and yellow eyes. "Orochimaru, I think this is one of your experiments."

Raiden felt his hand grabbed in Aimi's and then his very life was being sucked out of him as she leeched his chakra, mixing it with her own. A sound loud enough to crack the earth in two had them all screaming soundlessly. Then quiet. Blessed, black void of oblivion.

When he woke up, it was to feel Wyatt's hands wiping his face with something cool. Raiden blinked himself to full wakefulness and murmured at finding his sight blurry. "What happened?" His voice was weak, almost a whisper. His head ached fiercely and his body felt like it weighed a ton.

"Shh," Naruto said. He stood at the foot of his son's bed. Sasuke stood next to him, Itachi and Gaara on the other side. The Shinigamis were standing on the far side of the room. Aimi was in Wyatt's bed, Raiden saw when he could turn his head. "What happened," he asked again, in a stronger voice. Then it came back to him. He tried to sit up, but his pop pushed him back down.

"Not yet, Raiden. Rest." Sasuke kept his hand on Raiden's shoulder, preventing him from moving again. "You're very weak right now."

"But, but Akatsuki, they could be back at any minute, they can't die, Jesus, Dad, Pop-"

"They aren't coming back for awhile," Aimi said from her side of the room.

"And we were just about to find out why when you began waking up," Naruto said. He turned back to Aimi. "What did you do?"

Aimi shifted, breathing with difficulty. "I Boomed them. But I messed it up. I meant to leave them in space to suffocate, but I ended up putting them on a planet."

Wyatt tilted his head. "But, that's okay, right? I mean they can't get back, can they?"

"I don't know," Aimi said slowly.

"Well, maybe they'll die on the planet you sent them to. Not every planet is livable."

"Every planet in this solar system is and I couldn't Boom them any farther. I've never Boomed someone outside myself to someplace I wasn't physically going to, and if I hadn't had Raiden's chakra I wouldn't have been able to at all. As it is, I feel like I ruptured something in myself." Aimi coughed weakly and Sasuke went to sit beside her.

Naruto listened to Raiden's account of what happened with a frown. Then he told his children and Wyatt about finding themselves back in Konoha. Shortly afterward, Wyatt had shown up with Raiden and Aimi, both unconscious. Wyatt had healed them as best he could, healed Sasuke and the shinigamis. They had been waiting ever since for Aimi and Raiden to wake up.

"So nobody knows?" Raiden asked in shock. "Nobody knows they were here???"

"No," Itachi said now. "And that's the way it stays for the time being. The weddings are tomorrow. Akatsuki is not here and cannot come back just yet. I will let my children have a last moment of happiness before I shatter it with this news."

Gaara held up a hand and seven sand balls of assorted sizes floated in the air, with one large one in the middle. The seven spheres floated in a disjointed orbit around the middle one. He selected one smallish sphere.

"This is our home world," he said to Aimi, and the room at large. "Which planet are they on?"

Aimi studied the orbs. "That one," she said pointing to one that was somewhat larger than the one Gaara had indicated.

Itachi nodded. "We will leave you to rest. Shouta is fine, in case you were wondering, as is Yachiru. They are both recovering at my house."

Naruto and Sasuke kissed their children, leaving Wyatt to stay with them as they left to go downstairs with everyone else.

"Well," Wyatt said after a moment. "We got our miracle. I don't think they're mad at us anymore."

They stood in the trashed living room in a rough circle. No one spoke. Itachi sent a clone off to get one of his children.

At length, Kenpachi cleared his throat. "Naruto. I need to contact my commander. I can't fight with my limiter in place, and neither can the rest of my squad and Hitsugaya. Not against these foes. I'm not leaving here without tasting their blood, so don't worry. We'll back you up. But we need your boy to help us contact our commander."

Sasuke waved a hand. "Raiden can't do anything right now, can't you see how drained he is?" He turned to Naruto, catching his eye.

Naruto understood. "Even with you guys here, I don't know if we can beat them. The only way I could beat some of them would be if I went completely Nine-Tails… if then. The only advantage we have right now is that Akatsuki has absolutely no control over their Bijuus." He shuddered, remembering the raging thirst for blood that had been all around him. The Bijuus hadn't cared who they were fighting, so long as they were free. Kyuubi… no, he couldn't think about how his own Bijuu had almost been drawn into that nightmare.

"Nagato is a real problem," Itachi mused. "I'm only thankful he didn't take our souls right away. Yumichika, you did well holding him off." He nodded at a very worn out looking Yumichika, who returned the nod with grace.

"I'm afraid it was mostly luck," Yumichika stated now. "He has many other techniques that I couldn't fight. Had the Slug not distracted him, I fear things would have gone differently."

"There's a lot we don't know about Raiden and Aimi's powers," Sasuke said into the silence that followed. "Like the fact that their more special abilities apparently can't be used for extended lengths of time. And when you think about it, we've never exactly trained those abilities, have we Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head, thinking. "How could we? We can't do them ourselves. And… I don't know about you, but I was damn rusty out there. Training with Raiden is not the same as training ourselves, which we haven't been doing."

"We're out of shape," Sasuke admitted shamefully. "I went down too fast, even against them."

"You and I both," Itachi concurred, turning his head aside as his clone came back.

***

Kenta entered behind the clone, gray eyes sweeping to Yumichika to assess his apparent fatigue. He then looked at the wreckage. He turned to his father and waited to be enlightened.

Itachi suddenly loved this man he barely knew with a ferocity that brought tears to his eyes. It was his own son, but just then he couldn't list ten things he knew about him. Yet the boy came and showed discretion when faced with such a scene. His son, and he might lose him if and when Akatsuki came back. Itachi went to him. He patted Kenta's shoulder awkwardly. Then he stroked it. Then he was pulling the muscular body into a tight embrace.

Kenta hid his shock well. He raised a hand and rested it on Itachi's back, embarrassed. "Dad?"

Itachi pulled back, managing to swipe his eyes on Kenta's shirt discreetly as he did so. He took a deep breath and led Kenta to the other occupants of the room. He first addressed Gaara. "The solar system again, if you please Gaara."

Gaara had it in place within seconds. Everyone watched, wondering what was going on. Itachi, though, knew Madara well. He had an idea, one he didn't voice, but he needed information.

"Now, Kenta." Itachi turned to his son. "I know you study the heavens as well as geology. That last planet there, where is it now, in relation to our world?"

Kenta did not ask for an explanation. He stepped forward and pointed. Gaara repositioned the orb.

"I see," Itachi said. "And when will its path cross ours? When will it be as close to us as it can get?"

Kenta appeared to think. "Six months."

Itachi thanked his son almost warmly, making Kenta stare for a moment. He left shortly afterward. When he was gone, Yumichika's eyes lingering on the broad retreating back, Hitsugaya spoke up. "You think they can hop to this world if they are close enough?"

"I think Madara can," Itachi nodded. "I'm not certain, but I think so. If he knew what planet he was on in the first place."'

"Can't we go there and finish them off," Ikkaku asked Naruto seriously. "When your kids recover?"

"Weren't you listening?" Sasuke asked testily. "My kids were nearly killed. And that was only against Madara. If Nagato or Pein or whatever the fuck he's calling himself now was there, he would have sucked them both dry."

"We need help," Gaara said thoughtfully. "And your friends won't be nearly enough, Naruto. I think we need to give thought to this army of Bijuus Fee-Bee mentioned."

"Sure, I'll head out to the pet store and round some right up," Naruto snapped. "They ain't exactly growing on trees these days, you know?" Then he scrubbed his hands down his face. He squatted on the floor. "I'm sorry. I just… can't believe this is happening and we couldn't do anything, not one fucking thing, against them. Jesus, they're actually back. It's like my time as a boy all over again. I can't take this."

Sasuke went and knelt in front of his demon, murmuring inaudibly to him.

"We do need help," Itachi said. "And we need to think about becoming stronger ourselves. For now, it can wait until after tomorrow. I suggest we all get some rest."

Nods of agreement, and then they were dispersing, each going to the person they thought would bring them the most comfort, still operating under a heavy pall of shock.

Akatsuki had come back without preamble, almost like shadows. They would have been taken completely unaware despite all the warnings they'd received. And then they were gone again, just as quickly. It almost seemed like a dream.

But it was a nightmare.

Madara stared at the primitive and deadly rainforest around him. He'd seen some huge reptilian creature flying over head, easily the size of a house. His companions also stared around, Hidan cursing and Deidara bemoaning the fact that he had not an ounce of clay. Zetsu was frozen in some kind of tantric orgasm; the plants around him seemed to be sentient. They were stroking him obscenely while Orochimaru watched with interest. Sasori also looked on. He shuddered.

"Zetsu," Madara snapped sharply. "What can you tell me of this place?"

"Mmmmmmmmmm," both halves hummed in unison. "Not our world."

"I can see that," Madara hissed. "Anything else?"

"I like it here."

Useless fuck, Madara thought.

A disturbance above their heads revealed a fissure, some kind of rip in the fabric of reality. Demonic howling issued from this rip, causing everyone looking at it to shiver in recognition. A ghostly essence seeped out of the rip and Akatsuki, as a group, moved back from it.

Izanami gathered herself from this essence, regarding them with rage all over her wispy, hideous face.

"I sensed nothing from you for years, only to suddenly become aware of your presence in the world as if you'd never been gone. Explain," was all she said.

Madara did.

"You had the child and he escaped you?" she asked dangerously.

"Goddess, the child has… I think he has kin," Madara said. He'd been about to say Raiden had friends, but the more he thought about that girl, her looks and her powers, the more he thought she could be related. "I think he has a sister. She is powerful, to have sent us here. And there was another, whose powers are not ninja-like and are difficult to read."

Izanami said nothing. She remained silent for so long that Hidan finally spoke up. "Are you going to put us back on our world or what? We want this mission over."

"No," Izanami said witheringly. "You have failed. Worse, you cannot control your Bijuus. You caught them by surprise, but they will be ready for you next time. At any rate, I cannot return you yet. My power is weaker here. When the planets align themselves better, I will move you. Use that time wisely. The mission is changed."

They waited to hear how.

"Bring me all three children," Izanami said as she escaped into that rip in the air. "A little more waiting will make no difference for such a prize."

***

She was gone. They were stuck and it was all… those… kids'… fault. Madara knew that once he set eyes on Raiden's face again, and that of his apparent sister, he would kill them. He would not have the bastards existing anywhere. Izanami could do her worst, but he was heartily sick of everything having to do with Uzumaki, Uchiha and the whole cursed populace of Konoha.