Reunion

"The Raikage's losing his grip on things." Shikaku leaned against the wall of the Hokage office, a deep frown underlying his grim words. "This attack is insane."

"Desperate. Desperate sounds better," commented Kakashi idly, surveying the charts on the table before him.

Tsunade, seated on a low couch across the opposite wall, shook her head. "I think enraged would be more appropriate. His brother's death hit him hard, you know that."

"Enraged is good." Kakashi nodded, glancing up. "But desperate still fits better. The loss of the Hachibi is tactical as well as personal. Not only does Madarra get even closer to the Juubi, he gets all the Hachibi's chakra. Which, as we know, allows him to form even more Zetsu soldiers."

Tsunade shrugged. "Those are so much kunai fodder. The alliance has been slicing them to bits, what difference are a few more, or even a few thousand more, going to make?"

But Shikaku was shaking his head. "We're not talking a few thousand. The Hachibi is the second-greatest beast, its chakra would increase Madarra's holdings exponentially, especially now that he's kidnapped Yamato. Based on the makeup of the Zetsu's we've examined, we could be looking at anywhere from twenty to thirty thousand more attackers."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Twenty thousand?"

"The one chance is that Madarra probably hasn't formed them yet." Kakashi rubbed his headband-covered eye. "So a strong attack, right now, has a good chance of smashing the reinforcements before they become a real problem."

"I understand that bit," growled Shikaku. "What I DON'T understand—" he crossed the room in two quick strides and jabbed a finger at Kakashi's charts, "—is the decision for the Kumo group to go straight up the center like that. Or the decision for the Alliance leader to be at its head." A snort escaped him. "Or rather, I think I understand, but I don't agree."

"No. And you and everyone else made that rather clear at the meeting. But the Raikage IS the leader, for better or for worse."

"Not for much longer, if he keeps it up like this."

Kakashi nodded ruefully. "Mifune did think, at the beginning, that his brother's death would make him too volatile." He sighed and rubbed his eyes again. "Never thought being Hokage would involve so many troublesome politics." Turning to Tsunade, he suggested hopefully, "I don't suppose you'd want your old job back?"

"Ha. Not a chance. I took the job for that brat, and I think I did alright, but my time's over. I did my part. Anyway, switching leaders in wartime generally doesn't go over well."

"Thought you'd say that." Kakashi sighed, slumping in his seat. "But if something doesn't change soon, Kumo will be changing leaders, and so will the alliance. I don't want to think how THAT might end up."

"Could be you," grinned Tsunade, clearly enjoying this.

"Don't even say that." Kakashi scratched at his headband. "Man, I must've gotten some dust in my eye or something. Anyway, we have bigger problems. With the Hachibi taken, Madarra will be able to concentrate fully on the Kyuubi. He might find a way to follow Naruto."

"How?"

"I don't know, do I?" Kakashi gave an irritable shrug. "But if he does, Naruto's all by himself in that dimension. Well, he's with the other rookies, but you know what I mean." His finger worked up under the headband and began to massage his hidden eye. "Madarra could take the last tailed beast without using any of his Zetsus at all."

Tsunade stared glumly at the bottle of sake in her hand. "We need to get that brat back." She muttered. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?"

Kakashi tried to shrug while still rubbing at his offending digit. "There's one idea, but it's kinda… AAAGH!"

Shikaku and Tsunade started backwards as Kakashi leapt from the desk, clutching at his left eye. "AAUGH! AAAAAAHHHH!" Ripping off the headband, he doubled over, still gripping his head firmly. "OhH… AAGgggh…"

Another dimension away, Luthor froze in mid-step, eyes narrowed in concentration. What was…

Neji, apparently lying asleep in the League lounge with a book over his face, sat up suddenly, knocking off the book and revealing a vein-framed pair of white eyes set in a very confused expression.

"It's gone. We've lost it."

Mr. Terrific sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I could've sworn we were getting something for a second there. A concrete signal, I'm nearly certain of it."

"I caught a flicker of a ceiling and some floors there, for a moment," volunteered Steel.

"At least a moment, yes. Back up the viewfinder and play through the images, slowly."

The gathered scientists watched the screen in silence. The video had no sound, obviously, but there was a great deal of light. First, the screen was totally black, but a positive black, as if they were looking out at something. Then light flashed and the images wavered up, down, around, and then all the way around to the floor, where some fingers closed over the viewfinder and spasmed for a bit.

"Nothing after that, looks like." Terrific said after a few seconds. "Go back to 0.23, will you?" The screen wavered and fixed on a blurry image of the room. "Thought so. Play it through at about a quarter of the speed." The images started to move. "Freeze."

Again everyone studied the screen. "Quite the fine figure of a woman," chuckled Steel. "Wonder if the kids know her phone number."

"I'm more interested in the symbol on the wall behind her." Terrific pointed. "That's the Japanese kanji for 'ho,' fire. Hokage means fire shadow. Land of Fire, Fire Shadow…" He gestured. "That might be it, right there."

"Could be coincidental," warned Batman, speaking for the first time. "The word 'fire' could be written there for any reason. Fire escape, for instance."

"Or it could be symbolic." Terrific sighed. "Yes, you're right. Still, it's a start."

"A start, yes, but hard to verify until we get a more reliable power source. Where'd you get this one from?"

"The girl Sakura. Apparently she makes these pill things all the time, they're supposed to fill soldiers with chakra. It's harder here, obviously, but she's found out how to somehow."

"Yeah, well…" Steel eyed the empty plastic container. "…she better learn how to make a bunch of new ones FAST if we're keeping on like this. This gadget used up ten of those things in five seconds."

"Pills aren't going to cut it. We're going to need something else. And, while we're at it, someone who can actually recognize whatever it is we're seeing."

"Time to tell the ninjas, then, you think?" Batman arched an eyebrow.

Terrific shrugged. "At least time to bring it up before the dimensional committee. I'll prepare some stuff to show the rest of the League how far we've gone and see what they think."

"Stop me when you see my finger." The technician's hand slowly moved about Sasuke's head.

Sasuke remained staring forward alertly. "Now." He indicated.

"Good, that's normal vision range. What color is it?"

"Green."

A sigh broke from the man. "Oh, bother, those nodes must be confused again. Half a moment…" he consulted the computer in front of him.

Little nerves twinged along Sasuke's face but he ignored them. His mind was elsewhere. Why should he care about the old man? He'd been seconds from killing him himself. He'd have done it earlier but… what was the old man to him? He'd helped him once, talked to him a few times—what was that?

Perhaps there was something… abrupt about the way he'd died though. To be cut down like that while opening the door. Sasuke did not consider whether he 'deserved' it, deserving was not a big part of Sasuke's worldview, at least to people who were not Itachi. But the man had been shot down prematurely, he felt. Before he'd had time to say… whatever he might have said.

"Alright, now can you see my finger? What color is it now?"

"Pale pink."

"Damn!"

Sasuke took advantage of the lull to reach up to his head and feel the smooth metal where his empty socket used to be. His new 'friend' was not remiss in his presents, at least, this new eye functioned remarkably well. It was a relief to have some depth perception back. For a moment, he contemplated testing his new vision by stabbing the technician, but dismissed the thought as soon as it came. The man was still working on his eye! How was he supposed to get decent vision if he killed the man responsible?

"See the finger? What color?"

"Purple."

"Excellent!" The technician slid the glove off his hand and beamed. "There now, the color is all calibrated, the vision range is normal, and it even has a telescopic function for you to use. All your old eye had and more!"

"Hardly." Sasuke replied coldly, examining the eyepiece in a mirror. Rather odd, seeing that orb of metal and glowing glass embedded into his skin. Odder still, looking through it at it. He reached up again to touch it, just to assure himself it was real. No, it was no Sharingan, but it would do.

The Sharingan… with that thought came the thought of who had cost him the other one, and who had cost him his chakra. Sasuke's eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Where is Luthor?" He heard himself ask.

"Here, Mr. Uchiha." Sasuke half-turned as the door whooshed open to admit a smiling Luthor. "And I am eager to show to you all we have to offer."

"Even assuming the girl's 'prophecy' was valid, it's far too vague to take any definite action." Terrific winced. "A general premonition that 'things are about to get worse' could mean just about anything. Scientifically speaking, one might even say that things are ALWAYS getting worse, in the sense of constantly decreasing energy and order."

"But Hinata's warning could presumably be an indication that things are getting even worse than normal." Superman pointed out. "Even if we don't know the specific danger, we can at least put the base on high general alert."

Green Lantern nodded. "Already done. All League leaves have been canceled, the heroes are coming in. We should be at full strength by tomorrow, until then, everyone's on alert."

"Good." Superman turned to Batman. "How's the search for the Juugo clone coming?"

"Cloning technology is still supposedly illegal in most countries, so sales of it are notoriously hard to trace. Still, a firm in Korea sent out several shipments of high-quality cloning equipment that were all seized by pirates."

"A trifle coincidental, that."

"Indeed. As is the several billions of dollars appearing in their accounts, supposedly from 'investment returns.' However, tracing the deliveries is a little more difficult. Nearly all the pirate ships were lost in freak storms in the Southern Pacific"

"Freak storms." Superman rubbed his forehead.

"Not hard to guess what's behind that." Wonder Woman shared a glance with the rest of the table. "But with magic like that, why not teleport them the whole way? Why all this fuss with shipments and pirates and stuff?"

"More subtle. Less noticeable. Missing equipment would get reported. Missing ships might be investigated. Nobody cares about missing pirates." Hawkgirl shrugged.

"The shipments were supposed to be going to a firm in South America," continued Batman. "A front organization, obviously, but it's address matches with similar orders—and incidents—for arms shipments, electronic gear, and mercenaries."

"Just one front organization for all that?" Green Lantern frowned. "Luthor's getting sloppy."

"He's confident. He thinks with these storms, no one's going to notice. And he's right. If we hadn't been looking for it, we wouldn't have."

"But once Bats is on the job, he gets it all." Flash flashed a grin over at the crimefighter.

Batman winced slightly. "Actually, I got most of this from Question. He noticed the connections months ago, he just thought it was part of the Girl Scout Collective."

There was a muted groan from around the table.

"The point stands, he found the connections." Batman reminded them. "And this went quicker because he did. It'll take a while to trace the front organizations, and even if we do, Luthor will probably be nowhere near. But it's a start."

"Good." Superman nodded. "Keep at it. Now, for the next item… Terrific, you said you had news on the dimensional portal?"

"Yes." Terrific stood. "It's functional. I even think it's calibrated in approximately the right area of the multiverse. However, there's no well of telling for sure until we get some input from the ninjas themselves. In any case, we'll need more power for it to work properly."

"You think it's time we told the ninjas about it."

Terrific gave a silent nod.

"I suppose, now that it's working…" began Superman.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Flash raised his hands. "Pause and rewind here. What do you mean, 'right area of the multiverse?' How tricky can this be?"

Terrific drummed his fingers on the table for a moment and finally answered. "The Russian historian, Mikhail Bakhtin, pictured the world as separated into thousands of fragmented modes of thought. He considered that there was an overarching whole to these separate 'dialogues,' but that trying to fuse them all would inevitably cause them to lose their uniqueness."

"Huh?" Flash arched an eyebrow.

"It's a theory of history." Batman threw the speedster an annoyed glance. "Literature too. In essence, it means that every person has their own point of view, and that all these perspectives are part of a whole. But if you try to create that whole by mixing them all, you lose the personality. Either they all become subservient to one, or they all war against each other in chaos."

"A vortex." J'onn nodded.

"So… what does a literary theory have to do with this whole crisis?" asked Hawkgirl. "I mean, it's fascinating and all, but… what's the point?"

"Well, if you apply it to our situation here—crossed worlds and all—there's a further extension. Suppose all these separate worlds, with their different unique facets, were themselves part of an overarching whole. To put it more simply, suppose the different universes are simply fractured versions of a theoretical whole universe."

"There's a legend on Oa about that sort of thing." Green Lantern frowned. "But… I still don't see the application."

"Until now, we'd always assumed that the universe would bear some resemblance to Earth," continued Terrific, apparently oblivious to Lantern's question. "There was even a theoretical 'Earth Prime' assumed to be epitome of the fractured universe. But the insertion of the Konoha nins adds a whole new level to the equation. The whole universe might be nothing like ours. Earth Prime might be Konoha Prime. OUR universe might be a reflection of THEIRS!"

"My head hurts." Flash groaned.

"And, once again, the application of all this?" asked Superman wearily.

Terrific paused and blinked at the lot of them. "Well… there isn't much, actually." He admitted. "All this is purely theoretical. There are plenty of interesting philosophical and scientific implications, but unless you had someone monitoring the whole multiverse from the outside, it would be impossible to test."

Hawkgirl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Superman closed his eyes. Flash looked completely lost, and Batman, predictably, looked like nothing at all. "You DID ask him how complicated it could be." He pointed out.

"There is… one small application." Terrific insisted. "In order to reach the Konoha multiverse, we need to use something to find it. An anchor, I suppose you could say, or a piece to match the right reflection."

"The Sharingan."

"Exactly. Without it, we might never have gotten this far. It's a stroke of luck that boy Uzumaki tore it out of the boy's head, or I might still be wasting time trying to grow one."

"But if it's an anchor…" Superman's eyes narrowed. "…that'll mean it has to stay here, won't it?"

Terrific shrugged. "It would be hard to suck the projector inside itself anyway."

"They won't like that. Certainly not the white-eyes boy."

"What's to worry about? We can't use it, not without chakra. And no one else on their world can get to it, because it's stuck here. Seems like the perfect way of disposing of it."

"That's not the point." Batman shook his head. "It's a weapon of their village. A resource. They can't just leave it here, they need to take it back. Someone else might steal it, or we might develop another way to use it."

Flash smirked. "Cloned Sharingan babies, anyone?"

"Not funny," sighed Superman. "Look, one way or another, they have to know. They're going to learn about it sometime, and it seems the best time is now, when we can actually show them some results. Personally, I don't see how they have much of a choice if they want to get home, but still, their call. Set a meeting up with them tomorrow and have the Naruto guy supply the power."

Terrific nodded. "It'll take some fine-tuning of the chakra receiver, but I'll see if I can get Sakura to help me with that."

"Near god-like power, you say."

"Indeed. And with your help, Mr. Uchiha, it could be BEYOND god-like. We could achieve a level of control that not even the gods possess."

Sasuke simply grunted. Contrary to what everyone assumed, he did not particularly care for power as power. He was only interested in power to avenge his brother by killing everyone responsible. Power in this world, therefore, meant little to him.

However… he thought of Johnny Rancid and the gangsters on the street and the strange silent man in the green trenchcoat.

"Tell me, what can you do with this… power?" He said aloud.

"Anything I want to," came the reply, masked in a dark chuckle. "I can shape the earth as I see fit, move whatever I desire to wherever I desire, take away life and grant it in a heartbeat, form weather, and change minds." A malicious smile was growing on Luthor's face. "The laws of physics and mortality do not apply to me. I am invincible, immortal."

Sasuke's mind focused in on one aspect of that conversation. "Change minds?"

"Only slightly." Luthor was once again completely professional. "And certainly not yours, not with that neat little eye in your head, no." The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Apparently denying anesthetic for the eye implant had been worth every nerve twinge. You didn't have something like the Sharingan (at least for very long) near someone like Orochimaru without learning to take certain precautions. Then again, they could have easily knocked him out when they injected the local anesthetic. He should have thought of that. Still what was he to do? He would have passed out otherwise.

Part of him wondered what would happen when Luthor learned that he still could not use the Sharingan. He decided to keep that information to himself for the moment.

Luthor was still talking. "I cannot draw information from a person's brain nor can I… alter their underlying self. Not yet, at any rate. It is certainly possible for me to exit this body and possess the mind of another, but the effort would kill my old body, and I happen to like this one. Apart from that, I can merely plant information, or rearrange it, I cannot affect how they use that."

Sasuke stored the information under "Weaknesses" and put a question mark next to it. Would a man as smart as Luthor seemed to be tell him his shortcomings in the first meeting? "Tell me, can you find men, half a world away? There are a few people who I owe… some favors to."

"Mr. Uchiha, if I could do that, I should have found you before the League soldiers did."

League soldiers. Sasuke wondered. He hadn't had a good look at the men Luthor killed, but he couldn't help but think that some of the armor walking around and saluting to Luthor looked very familiar.

"No, I am not omniscient. I cannot find ANY man." Luthor gestured Sasuke ahead of him into a room. "However, if it is some of your fellow ninjas you're looking to revenge yourself upon, I can offer you something."

Sasuke looked down from a glass-covered balcony at a prone Shikamaru.

"You've made excellent progress so far, Ino-san." The green martian smiled kindly at the girl. "I think it's time we moved on to something new."

Ino, sitting on a low stool just before her teacher, shrugged a little nervously. "Okay, sensei."

"You already know how to read minds and transmit thoughts. With practice you've learned how to probe the unwary mind, and you're making a good beginning on probing the wary one. But for now I want you to take a break from that, and focus on reaching out and finding minds."

Ino, just taking a cautious bite from the Oreo on the desk, froze. "Reaching out?"

"Precisely." J'onn nodded. "In order to find the mind you want, you must open yours to the world. But only lightly, only in passing, or you will risk another vortex. You will need to skim the surface thoughts only, get just enough a feel of their mind to know that it isn't the one you're looking for."

"This sort of thing… this is like what I was doing… before, right?" Ino bit her lip nervously.

"Yes. But you were not trained to handle it then, not as you are now." J'onn leant forward and touched the teenage girl on the shoulder, briefly. "Ino, remember what I've taught you. Mind, body, spirit… all are a false distinction." A strange look crossed his face momentarily. "Admittedly, that's easier for me to remember than you. But you need to remember it regardless. Your mind needs to be as controlled as your arm, as natural as your instinct."

"Now." J'onn sat back. "Start by just thinking at me."

Ino closed her eyes. It wasn't necessary, but for her, it helped.

Fresh coolness in a desert full of life. Silence blows across red hills in the shifting sea of changing patterns changing amidst the dark pillars of Oreos over bloated white caverns…

Well done child. Here you are again. Now, draw back, but do not let go. Use my mind as an anchor.

Pulling out into void void cold and yet cool, fresh breezes blowing in the stars of… more breezes raising a cacophony of silent planets and flying bats amidst the amazons of hell…

Careful child. You're delving too deeply. Back up. Start again.

Floating out above the sand, remember the sand, see the sand it whirls about your face feel the air about the breezes and the colors of their scent…

Bats flying in the alleyway of pearls…

Flying colors parading along the avenue of dreams where lanterns dangled from the windows…

Webs meeting webs in the chalkboard of fatality, a paperclip fell and all the web was changed…

Careful with Question's mind, child. It can be volatile.

Cathedrals and crosses frowning on the lump of dirt as fire raged amidst the…

The numbers leapt and dived in intricate dance amidst the glorious patterns just above the abyss of uncertainty…

Hear the record player playing as the streets rained blood amidst the glare of gaslights…

Layers upon layers of complexity, zooming in and out of each other supporting the framework…

Good, you are scanning properly. Now try to find a mind you know. Say, the boy Chouji.

Insects in the ears eyes nose of the great thought of the churning land even the ground lived…

Steel of sand and the swords of friendship clashed and raged in the boiling dust where bats flew amidst the palm trees…

Houses of honor and rigid stature, sealed with looming eyes and behold the rock at its base…

Fighting biting tooth and claw all red in the wild thin paper of town and comrades…

A toy town no less real from ground and buildings loomed around you until they shrunk out…

A fragile bubble kept out the winds of rage while inside a small barbecue entertained a small…

Ino opened her eyes. "Found him."

Indeed. But you should not have left so quickly. Where is he?

After a moment's hesitation, Ino responded, Lower levels of tower wide room great sweeping walls beneath a light of…

"Close enough." J'onn spoke, allowing her to fully return. "He's in training room four on sub-level three. But then, I'm familiar with this tower and you're not, so you couldn't be expected to recognize it. Do you think you could find your way there?"

Ino frowned in concentration. "Mmm… Maybe?"

"Let's try." J'onn stood and indicated to Ino that she should do also. "That was very good for a first attempt. It helps if you've had a mind read of the person earlier, that way you know the feel of their mind and can recognize it more readily. That's part of the reason why I can't find your friend Shikamaru, I don't think I'd recognize his mind if I saw it."

"Would I?" Ino's face took on a suddenly thoughtful expression.

"Perhaps. But he would be very hard to find, especially since you haven't ever felt his mind before. In your session just now, you only really felt the minds we've practiced on before… ones you already knew. Without any real experience of your friend's mind, I don't think you'd be able to pick up on him."

Ino didn't answer. But… when I was crazy… I did feel him. For a second.

Sasuke couldn't remember much about Shikamaru. In their genin days, he'd marked him down as a lazy idiot who would never amount to anything. In the chunin exams, he'd had a passing acquaintance with the boy, but had never really seen either of his battles. He suspected they must have been fairly boring affairs. For some strange reason the boy had made chunin before anyone, but he'd stayed there the rest of his life.

None of this particularly garnered Sasuke's respect, or his anger. He vaguely recalled the bored-looking chunin as being part of the Konoha attack force that tried to kill him, but couldn't remember what his role had been. Couldn't have been important.

He turned to Luthor. "Where's Naruto?"

"The Uzumaki boy? We never got him." Something about that line sounded vaguely wrong, but Sasuke had no time to examine it. "The League got to him first. The others too. We were fortunate to snag this one."

"Mmm." Sasuke turned to leave.

Luthor stopped him with a hand on his arm. "One moment. Would you like to talk to him?"

Sasuke stared at him. "Why?"

"Oh, I think you'll find he's quite an interesting conversationalist." Luthor's hand emerged from his pocket, waving a remote. "Shall we?"

The button was punched before Sasuke could object, and the windows went clear. Apparently just waking up, Shikamaru gave the porch a casual glance, then another marginally keener glance. Only the slightest quiver of the eyebrows betrayed his surprise. "Hullo." He yawned. "Here to play chess, Sasuke?"

Sasuke only glanced at Luthor and raised an eyebrow. Smiling as if enjoying a private joke, Luthor leaned closer to the glass. "No chess today, Mr. Nara." He said. "As you can see, I have bigger games to play."

A shrug expressed Shikamaru's lack of interest. "Oh. Well, so long as you're not involved in anything serious, then. I don't suppose you have something else in mind to keep me entertained?"

"I'm sure you can find something, Mr. Nara. You seem to be most resourceful."

The chunin's dismissal of him irked Sasuke, and he stepped forward to the glass too. "Comfortable?" He sneered.

"Yes, thanks," drawled the teen. "And yourself?"

"I am… well."

A yawn answered him. "Cool. Luthor talking you into his big world-domination deal?"

"He spoke of it." Sasuke allowed. "Talk into," indeed.

"Ho yeah, he loves to talk about it. Sharingan this, and sharingan that. What I'll do once I have the Sharingan, yadda yadda yadda." Gesturing casually with one hand (Sasuke noted, to his surprise, that Shikamaru was not bound), the chunin gave the balcony a lazy smile. "He must be as pleased as punch to have finally got ahold of you."

Got ahold? Sasuke raised an eyebrow, feeling a vague unease at all this talk of the Sharingan.

Another yawn broke from Shikamaru. "Anyway, I suppose now you're here, things can finally get down to business, hey Luthor? Weren't getting a whole lot done, but now you've got a handle on this guy's power, you might be able to pull something off, hey?"

Luthor tapped Sasuke on the elbow, proffering the remote. "I can send an electric shock through his system by pressing that." He offered. "Would you like to?"

Purely out of curiosity, Sasuke took the remote and pressed the button.

"YAAAAAAGH!"

Amusing but pointless. Sasuke clicked the remote off and handed it back to Luthor with a shrug.

Down below, Shikamaru was gasping on the bed. "Y'know…" He managed, "I think I'm getting used to that. Even feels kinda nice."

"Really? Well, since I'm feeling generous today…" With a little smile, Luthor pressed the button.

"YAAAAGH!"

"Every so often he needs to learn some respect." Luthor told Sasuke over the screams. "He enjoys making fun of those more powerful than himself. Otherwise, a model prisoner. Brilliant chess player. " He clicked the electricity off. "Shall we go?"

With an almost desperate effort, Shikamaru hurled himself back into consciousness. "Why… don't… you take… him to see Karin?" He wheezed. "And… the others. I'm… sure… he'd love… to see them?"

"You have Karin here? And Juugo and Suigetsu?" Sasuke turned on Luthor. "You didn't mention that."

There was a decided tightness to Luthor's face. "Just Karin and Juugo, I'm afraid." He laughed. "As it happens, we were going there next."

"So you say chakra can be used to form ANY element. As in, atomic elements." Sakura was frowning.

Mr. Terrific raised an eyebrow. "You know about atomic theory?"

"We know about 'elements,' though we prefer to call them base classes." Sakura rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I'm a medic, we DO occasionally use chemistry, you realize. Atomic theory, from what I've heard… well, it fits with a couple of the ideas I've heard floating around. No practical application, all abstract. But we have a slight understanding of it. 'Element' means something different to us, it describes one of the five types of chakra affinities: earth, water, wind, fire, lightning."

"The four classical elements." Batman nodded. "The Greeks came up with them, though they didn't think of lightning. How does this affinity manifest itself?"

Sakura, who had quirked a curious eyebrow at the word 'Greeks,' shrugged her shoulders. "Essentially, by what kind of elemental jutsus the person can use. Air types can form blades of air, Water types can generate and control water, and so on."

"So the elemental 'types' describe what kind of atomic manipulation the person is capable of, what sort of elements they are best suited to form." Mr. Terrific frowned. "But earth, air, and water are not composed of any one element, they're all mixtures of different compounds. That seems unnecessarily taxing."

"Except you say you generally use materials already existing in the environment." Batman interjected. "So it's not direct creation, just manipulation. Hence it would be easier than making a straight atomic model."

Shaking her head, Sakura explained. "No… that's how we train. Usually, in an actual battle, you have to actually create the element. It's just easier if that element is nearby. But what's confusing me is this element 'affinity;' it doesn't seem to fit into your system."

"I must confess I don't see it either." Mr. Terrific agreed. "By rights, it ought to be easier to make a material purely out of, say, iron, than make one formed out of several different elements."

Sakura's eyes grew distant. "Yes… but perhaps it's simply the way the elements are composed together."

"Wait a minute." Batman narrowed his eyes. "The Greeks' four elements roughly correspond to the four states of matter—solid, liquid, gas, and plasma."

"If the ninjas have a similar system, perhaps their 'element affinity' actually refers to the ease with which they can form or manipulate the various states of matter." Mr. Terrific nodded.

Sakura's eyes were darting back and forth. "So water types just find it easy to create elements in liquid form, wind types to manipulate elements bound in gaseous form, and earth types like me…" Then she shook her head. "But no. That doesn't work. Earth types can't manipulate iron, or ice, or anything like that. Only ninjas with double affinities—kekkai genkai—can do that sort of thing."

"Possibly because neither thinks it's possible." Terrific suggested. "Earth users assume Ice is something Water users can do, and Water users KNOW they can't make ice. Or even, perhaps…" His eyes grew a little distant, "…if your people don't have an exact understanding of atomic theory, perhaps it's that their own mind doesn't quite understand what it's trying to form. Whereas someone who'd grown up around ice, or iron, or lava, would have a mind more used to it."

Sakura nodded, her interest growing. "So to someone with a more exact knowledge of atomic theory, like me, and the proper chakra control…" Her voice drifted off.

"Tell me." She said suddenly. "Do you have a block of… I don't know, some elemental metal? Something light and strong?"

Batman looked to Mr. Terrific, who shrugged. "I can't say for sure, but we probably have something. Titanium would most likely be your best bet. Why?"

Sakura's grin was almost feral. "I'd like a pair of axes."

"Miss Karin," called Luthor's voice across the laboratory, "we have a visitor I think you'll be interested in seeing."

Sighing wearily, Karin brushed the hair back from her face and turned, standing as she did so. "Yes, Mr. Luthor, I'll…" She stopped in mid-sentence as Sasuke came into view.

"Sasuke-kun!" She took a half-step forward, fighting back her impulse to run to him. "You're here!"

"Mm." Sasuke nodded, walking right up to her and looking her over. Now that she had the chance to study him, she noticed that he looked a little… different. Rougher, somehow, but also more attentive. Somehow more sympathetic. And, of course, he was now sporting a cybernetic eye.

Luthor came up right alongside. "We were fortunate enough to smash the League's attempt to capture him. For the moment, he is taking shelter."

"I do not take shelter. I do not hide," insisted Sasuke, glaring at Luthor.

Too flustered to note the odd tension, Karin hastily brushed off her labcoat and straightened her glasses. She tried to adopt a coy posture. "Well… fancy meeting you here," said she, with an attempt at a laugh. "Things have been so dull without you." Casually, she brushed back her hair. As she did, her fingers touched the explosive implant and she winced, ever so slightly.

Sasuke, noting the discomfort, moved forward and, utterly oblivious to Karin's blush, moved back her hair to expose the mechanism. Turning to Luthor, he raised an eyebrow in query.

"A device to ensure her cooperation." Luthor smiled easily. "Nothing mental, of course, we would never risk harming her mind. I apologize, but you must understand the need for precaution in these matters. We've never needed to use it." A simple look at Karin told her to keep silent about what it did.

Sasuke shrugged. He'd worked alongside Orochimaru for three years. In comparison to some of the things he'd seen there, this was rather clean. Stepping away, he let Karin's hair fall back into place. "What have you been doing here, Karin?" He asked, noting the new bite marks on her hands.

"U-u-u-um cloning," stammered Karin, still recovering from Sasuke's action. "Cloning Juugo's DNA." She repeated more firmly. "We've managed to isolate the cursed seal blood and find a way to administer it without inducing madness. We've even…" A hint of pride crossed her face, "We've even managed to add a third transformation."

"Really?" Again Sasuke glanced at Luthor. "I'd be interested in seeing that."

Luthor nodded. "I thought you might. Miss Karin, please bring the images onscreen."

"Yes sir." Karin sat down and turned to face her computer. "It'll take a few moments, we're having some difficulties with the system today."

"Let me see." Stepping directly behind her, Sasuke leaned over her shoulder, as if to study the computer screen. Karin could practically feel his breath on her ear.

"That device on your neck… what does it do?" The whisper was so low, even Karin could barely hear it. "Don't talk, just move your lips."

Karin suppressed a shudder, knowing Luthor was watching. Explosive. She mouthed.

There was a momentary silence, then: "Does my new eye have something like that?"

Probably. Luthor did that a lot, but would he risk it on someone he needed as badly as Sasuke? As deadly as Sasuke? Karin rethought her statement and mouthed: Definitely.

"I see. I'll need you to do something about that, then. When we have a moment alone…" Karin shuddered again, but for a wholly different reason, "…I have something else for you to do. My chakra isn't functioning properly."

So that was why she hadn't sensed his arrival.

"Everything alright?" Luthor asked pleasantly.

"Quite well, Mr. Luthor," replied Karin, surprised at how calm she kept her voice. "I have the images now… bringing them onscreen."

Without even a blip, the screens came alive. Lights and colors danced across the screen as half-naked men—and women—fought in single combat in various rooms scattered throughout the base. One screen showed a more urban-like practice area, where test subjects were ripping armed guards to pieces. Another showed weapons practice… clones learning rudimentary military skills.

"The third transformation you mentioned?"

"Oh, we can easily induce one. Miss Karin, use it on subject 16."

Karin tapped a few keys, and instantly one of the single combat screens lit up. In a moment, the losing party of the battle roared, threw his opponent off of him, and leapt to his feet. Bone-like fins erupted from his back and blue chakra surrounded him as his eyes grew dark and vacant. He leapt on his opponent, grabbed his arm and snapped it in half. The legs next. He was just reaching for the throat when Luthor called out, "Miss Karin, if you please…"

Karin had been waiting for the order and instantly clicked the "Subdue" button.

Even as Subject 16 reared back for the kill, the fins were falling limp, subsiding into his natural flesh. His movements became sluggish, more difficult, and his body began to shake in an odd manner. Finally, his eyes lolled back and he collapsed to the floor, tongue hanging out.

"We can control the dosage of the tranquilizer." Luthor explained. "We haven't quite fine-tuned it to control exactly what stage it regresses to, but it's only a matter of time. Trial and error."

"Mmm. Interesting." Sasuke had very little interest in armies. He barely had interest to spare on teams. "And where is Juugo? I presume you have him too?"

Luthor nodded. "This way. Miss Karin, perhaps you'd better come too."

"These are basic maps of the best routes to leave the Metrotower." Neji was speaking. "Commit them to memory and then destroy the copies. All exits are worth noting, but especially make sure to familiarize yourself with the route from your quarters, because any attempt will probably be made at night."

"Jeez, when did you guys make all this?" grumbled Ino, adjusting her map.

Neji shrugged modestly. "I provided the diagrams. Sai investigated all your rooms and devised the least observed routes."

"That's… kinda creepy."

"I don't get it." Tenten frowned. "What're you guys so paranoid about these guys for? Compared to my last place, this base is pretty awesome."

"The League seems to be training us to work with them more than to work by ourselves. Given that, it seems they are planning to induct us into their ranks, which, advisable as it might be, is a state of conflicted loyalty." Shino adjusted his glasses.

Neji gave a short nod. "And again, there's Sasuke to consider. We don't want the League butting in on that. It's a Konoha matter."

Most heads around the circle nodded, but a few did not. "B-but…" Hinata quavered, "…we might need their help. We've tried to f-fight Sasuke tw-twice now and it hasn't w-worked… maybe, with their help…" Her voice died away in the looks she was getting. Ninjas, of any caliber, dislike being told they need help.

Surprisingly, though, Shino spoke up for her. "Hinata raises a legitimate point. Our past efforts have met with failure. Note, though, that both times we were lacking our full strength, whereas it is to be hoped future efforts will be better coordinated. Moreover…" Shino glanced around the circle. "We have, all of us, grown stronger in our time here at the Metrotower. We have gained new abilities, acquired new tactics. And this, most importantly, gives us a new edge over Sasuke."

"Certainly, if the League captures Sasuke, things will become difficult." Neji said. "We may not be allowed to terminate him, perhaps maybe not even take him back to Konoha. He might even escape and the whole thing begin again. The risk is too great."

"We're not planning to kill Sasuke," cut in Naruto's peevish tone. "Try to remember that." Ostensibly, this meeting had been called together by Naruto and he led it, but so far all he'd done was sit at the head looking ueasy.

Neji avoided Naruto's gaze. "Of course, of course."

"There is still the matter of communications to discuss." Shino motioned Ino forward. Ino will contact you all telepathically if there is a need to leave urgently. If possible, she will provide details, but most likely it will only be the message."

"So how am I supposed to know?" Ino looked rather nervous.

"This bug…" Shino indicated the insect in his hand, "…will come to you. When it does, you will know that I, Neji, or Naruto have given the order to leave, and contact the others accordingly."

"How will the bug find me?"

"It will find you."

"Shino," said Neji quickly, before Ino could give that fact too much thought. "There's something I want you to look into."

"Yes?"

"That room on the bottom level that we were talking about before… I picked up some unusual activity there about two hours ago. Looked like a chakra signature."

Shino nodded. "I see. Then perhaps it's time we fully investigated that. Also, Sai… did you find anything about the tracers?"

"Yes." Sai nodded. "The communicators given to us by the League are rather obvious tracking devices, but I think there's another, more subtle device they've employed. There are little… things in the food that keep track of movement and vital statistics and things." A smile spread across his face. "To counteract this, I have not eaten anything in days!"

Silence greeted this admission. Finally, Neji turned to Shino. "Perhaps we could induce vomiting?"

"I may be able to short them out using my electricity jutsu, now that I know about them. Fairly harmless. Anything else?"

Sakura spoke up. "Yeah, I've got a little item that might be useful. I've been talking to some of those League people, and Hinata's told me a few things, and I've got a theory. You know how our powers don't seem to work as well in this world?"

She received a series of nods from those around the room. "Well, at first I thought it was just because we weren't used to fighting people without chakra… like Neji, you can't see the chakra pathways, so you can't aim for the vital spots as easily. Sasuke probably can't use his Sharingan quite to its full potential here either, since it reads chakra pulses from the opponent to predict movements. And Naruto, your sage ability can't sense chakras that aren't there, so your sensor ability isn't quite as reactive as it used to be."

"Makes sense." Naruto nodded.

"Not completely, it doesn't," Neji objected. "It doesn't explain why Naruto can't use his wind jutsus as easily anymore, or why Sai's ink jutsu isn't functioning."

"Or why I need to eat so much to replace my energy." Chouji agreed.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that really seems to be bothering you."

"It doesn't explain everything, you're right." Sakura interjected, breaking the argument before it could begin. "But then Naruto told me how it's harder for him to gather natural energy now, and Hinata suggested that this world—not just the people, but the world, is actually devoid of chakra." Frowning a moment, she turned on the girl. "By the way, where did you get that idea?"

Hinata looked down. "A-a friend t-told me."

"Hm?" After a moment of looking puzzled, Sakura shrugged it off. "Anyway, it's the implications of the idea that interest me. If our world actually has chakra infused everywhere, and this world doesn't, then it explains a lot. We can't manipulate the elements—" she grinned momentarily "—that's another fun thing, by the way— quite as well because we can't use the chakra that's normally infused with it. Ink from here doesn't work for Sai, because it doesn't have the inherent chakra either. And Chouji…"

"…can't recover his strength as easily because there's no chakra in the food he's eating." Ino finished for her. "Not bad, billboard brow. It almost makes sense."

Neji was nodding also. "It certainly explains why Lee, whose abilities do not rely on chakra, is the only one of us who is not seriously affected. But then… how do we overcome this handicap?"

"I don't know about your Jyuuken, and I can't think of anything for the Sage mode sensing ability." Sakura confessed. "But I DO have an idea about the elemental jutsus. Here's something else the League guys and I discussed…"

"Sasuke-sama! Now I no longer need to wear these chains!" Juugo leapt from the bed.

"The restraints were for your safety as much as the staff's!" objected Luthor.

"Oh yes." Turning, Juugo offered the man a nod, "But now that Sasuke-sama is here to keep me in line, I no longer have to fear killing anyone. At least, accidentally. I no longer fear freedom, as Sasuke will keep me under control."

Sasuke gave a short nod of agreement, though he personally felt uneasy. Even if Juugo didn't know it, without the full use of his chakra, Sasuke had no real way of keeping the monster in check. Still, what alternatives did he have? He needed friends in this base of Luthor's.

"Karin." Juugo nodded to the technician.

Karin, standing just behind Sasuke, nodded nervously back. "H-hi Juugo." Being slightly more aware of Sasuke's chakra difficulties, and having neither thousands of guards nor a confident personality to back her up, she felt a trifle more uneasy at the giant's presence.

Luthor clapped his hands. "Well then, now that the whole team is back together, perhaps we can…"

"No." Sasuke stopped him. "No, the 'whole' team is not all back together. And until they are, we will do nothing."

Stopping, Luthor stared at the teen. "You want to extract your friend Suigetsu? From the League's Metrotower?"

"We're a team. Either we're all in, or none of us are."

Though she tried not to show it, Karin was flabbergasted. When had Sasuke cared about Team Taka? For that matter, when had Team Taka cared about Team Taka? This had to be a ploy of some kind.

And yet, a tiny part of her wanted to think that maybe, just maybe, Sasuke's time in this world had changed him.

"The MetroTower is swarming with metahumans. Your ninja friends are there too. A direct assault there is insane."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "But surely, for one with near god-like powers like you and I, that should pose no problem."

"You want me to help you?"

"Think of it as a gesture in good faith. You help me, I help you."

"I already rescued you from those League lackies. You, Mr. Uchiha, owe ME, and I will NOT be bargained with!"

"This time, it seems, you will be. You need my help, do you not? My WILLING help, moreover? Then show your trust in me by lending me some of your…resources, and I shall show my trust in you by helping you conquer the world."

Luthor's glare nearly crackled the air. "Attacking the tower is an overt move! The League will become completely aware of our location and resources, and the crucial element of surprise will be lost!"

"The let us make this…" said Sasuke, leaning close, "…the surprise attack."

The Sharingan flickered into life on his one remaining eye.

Just behind Sasuke, Karin clapped her hand over her mouth as she sensed something new. Sasuke's chakra! It's back!

The Metrotower was a fortress, a prison, a medical facility, an embassy, and a small airport all wrapped in one moderately sized building through the genius of Mr. Terrific, Atom, Batman, and several other associated heroes. It compressed millions of essential features and made them fit into spacious, graceful rooms and hallways. It was a hub of international events.

In such a building, quiet spots were hard to find. But Hinata, with her sense for such things and her Byakugan vision, had found one.

About three-quarters of the way up the Metro Tower, the fifteenth floor gave way to a slightly-smaller sixteenth floor, leaving a small flat space upon which to walk. Mostly, it was used to stick heating units, spare pipes, and electrical utilities which hadn't QUITE fit into the interior. However, the architects had not overlooked it's recreational value either, and had thoughtfully installed a railing ringing the makeshift balcony. (A railing that could be electrified or folded back to provide a shield for the other utilities in case of attack).

It was not a very nice spot, although the view was lovely, and the little use it DID get was mostly from heroes dying for a smoke (More heroes did this then was believed, but they tended to keep it, as much else, secret). It was quiet, though, and serene, and that meant a lot to Hinata. In the Hyuuga manor, she had always had time alone. True, sometime she had more time alone then she liked, but nonetheless she'd learned to use and enjoy quiet contemplative moments, and the unused balcony was a good place to do just that. The knowledge that security cameras were watching her every move did not bother her in the slightest, she'd always had THAT in the Hyuuga manor too.

Which was brought her here, to the railing, leaning over and looking out across Metropolis. The sun was just beginning to lower behind the taller buildings, and its reddening light glinted off a thousand windows in the city below. From the depths of the streets echoed the everyday sounds of the city… honking cars, bustling people, whirring machinery, the occasional wailing siren… all sounds that had become familiar to Hinata over her stay in this world.

Whenever possible, Hinata came to this balcony at sunset, to watch the city go home from work.

This night, she was watching it so closely, she didn't hear the creak of the door onto the balcony, nor the light crunch of ash as someone approached. A pity, for no ninja made noise unless they wanted to, and this one was obviously hoping to be heard.

Finally, he had to clear his throat, and Hinata nearly jumped away from the balcony. "Na-naruto-kun!" She hastily made a small bow. "I—I didn't know you were there! I… I…" She cast a longing look over the balcony at the city. "…I… was just leaving…"

"Um… actually…" Naruto coughed. "Would you mind staying? I haven't really… I mean, I haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while."

Hinata blinked. "St-st-st-stay? Here? W-w-w-with you?"

With a little awkward shrug, Naruto nodded. "Well… yeah."

Swiftly Hinata considered her options. Naruto was between her and the nearest door. The other one was clear on the other side of the building. Over the railing waited a fifteen-floor drop, full of security measures and shatterproof glass to keep anyone from breaking in. Up the wall waited the same security measures and some high velocity winds.

Hinata swallowed. "O-o-kay." She nodded.

Taking the acceptance at face value, Naruto moved forward and leaned against the railing next to her. He seemed nervous, indecisive, and for a long time, he didn't say anything. Hinata, even more nervous, if possible, didn't say anything either.

They stood there, saying nothing to each other, for about a full minute and a half. They stood there so long, in fact, that Hinata started to relax a little bit and enjoy the sunset again.

And then Naruto coughed. "I've… uh… I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now." He said, staring off at the city. "But… things were a little crazy right after Gotham, and after that I was busy training with Superman and after that…" His voice trailed away and he looked at her sidelong. "You haven't been… avoiding me, have you?

She had. What else was she supposed to do? She'd tried to suck out Kyuubi's soul and bind it, she'd nearly robbed Naruto of his greatest power. How could she face him after something like that? And now he even knew that she'd been avoiding him! Hinata's heart twisted inside her.

"You're really good at that, you know?"

Startled by the comment, Hinata whirled to face Naruto, who grinned sheepishly. "I mean, at avoiding people. Or at least me. Seriously, I've been trying to find you for about the last week or so, and I haven't even seen you. I had to switch to Sage Mode just to find you here." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Seriously, it's like you've been practicing how to hide from me all your life!"

Hinata, shocked into silence by the simple compliment, said nothing.

"Aheheheh… yeah." Slowly the grin faded from Naruto's face and his arm came down. Shrugging awkwardly, he looked away, and there was another long silence. Finally he came back with: "Hinata, can I ask you something?"

Hinata nodded dumbly.

"Why are you… so quiet all the time?"

It took a while for Hinata to answer, and Naruto, clearly nervous, filled the gap with his own talking. "I mean, it's good to be quiet, people are always telling me to be more quiet, but I can never do it because I always have so much to say and there are always so many idiots, even ones who don't know who I am and how are they supposed to know who I am unless I tell them?" He paused for breath. "But… you always take things so quietly." He shrugged. "I guess I just… wondered why."

"I… I don't know," said Hinata after some time. "I s-suppose I never thought about it much. It j-just always seemed to me that… well, that what I had to say w-wasn't as i-important as what other people might want to s-say."

"Whaddaya mean by that?" Naruto cocked his head at her. "Your ideas are good. I remember—" he thought about it, but realized that Hinata had never told anyone what her ideas were. "—your idea to work with the Justice League was good." He managed.

"Y-yeah… I guess so." Hinata looked a little doubtful.

"And you were all for telling them about that Spectre deal. That went well," continued Naruto, gaining steam. He beamed at her. "You should tell people about your ideas. I do! Of course, my ideas are always good…"

"U-um… yes." Hinata looked even more doubtful. "B-but you see, you'd think so, because they're your ideas. So how do you know? I mean, even when I have a good idea, it's hard to know whether it's actually a good idea, because, well, I thought of it, so I would think that."

Naruto shrugged. "So? Tell it to them anyway. They'll let you know if something's wrong."

"But if I stay quiet and just listen, chances are I'll hear a better idea anyway," protested Hinata. "Or at least hear something that my idea should change. That way if I finally do have to say it, it'll be better."

Naruto had nothing to say to that, so he just hmmed and stared out at the city. "You know," he said eventually, "I don't think you stuttered once in that whole speech."

Starting, Hinata blushed crimson and began to stammer out apologies, but Naruto silenced her. "No, seriously, that's cool. It's like, I can tell you're really sure about it, because you don't keep stopping." Grinning, he added, "I guess you usually just hesitate trying to find the right words." A shade of guilt crossed his face. "I could probably stand to learn about that."

"Y-you're fine, Na-naruto-kun." Hinata managed, stutter once again in full force. "S-Someone has to start all th-the talking.

"Heh." Naruto smirked at that.

For a long moment they stood there at the balcony, watching the reddening sun sink below the buildings. Shadows were lengthening, and stars were just beginning to be seen in the sky. The chill night breeze swept across the balcony, and Hinata shivered just a little as it blew back her hair. Finally Naruto spoke.

"I heard you had another of those… prophetic thingies. Just yesterday." At Hinata's nod, he pressed on. "Any idea what it was about?"

Hinata shook her head. "Not r-really. Mr. Terrific w-was asking me about Reverend McCay again, and all of a sudden I just… " She shrugged. "…I d-don't know exactly what, but I just… got a very bad f-feeling about things."

"Do you think something happened to him?"

"I don't know..." sighed Hinata, brushing back a loose strand. "Maybe… We sh-should check up on h-him, I guess."

"Hard to do that with them tracking our every move."

"Naruto, I think we should tell them about him."

Naruto turned, eyebrow raised, and Hinata faced him. "I think we should tell them about the other things too. This sneaking around, hiding things… It's not helping anything. The only thing it's doing is making everybody more nervous. Whenever people find out they've been kept in the dark about something, they usually get angry."

The lab was utterly dark, utterly deserted, though the clutter that filled every available space suggested it was in frequent use. Strange tanks were stored in rows on long shelves, feeding their fluids into a complicated arrangement of tubes that ran into the odd object in the center of the lab. It looked alive, but at the same time it was very obviously connected to at least three of the surrounding computers.

Possibly, the tanks and their respective contents made the ventilation of this lab essential. Certainly the lab had a great many fans and ventilation shafts running out of the room, though they were all, of course, guarded with lasers, potentially electrified, and anyway far too small for a man or even boy to crawl through. (Question was rumored to patrol some of the larger ventilator shafts, but no one bothered whether he got electrocuted or not).

Unfortunately, none of these safeguards had been designed with a bug in mind. Or even a few hundred bugs.

The insects swarmed through the vent and milled about the room. After a few moments initial confusion, they swept over to the door and clustered around the RFID lock. The door clicked in, and Shino stepped in. "Many thanks." He intoned, extending a hand to receive his allies.

As they re-entered his coat sleeve, he swept the room with a glance. He knew more about computers and electronics than most of his fellow ninjas, though at the moment he felt Sakura might have been more help. Still, it didn't take much to see that the bizarre object in the center was the main point of this place. Crossing over to the table, he studied the device from several angles before finally coming around to the front to see what it looked like from there.

He looked straight up at the Sharingan.

to be continued...

A/N: Again I'm late, and again it's not my fault. I had this all written up last night, but I couldn't log into my account so I had to post it today. Hopefully, no one gets raging mad over this little delay.

I have 700 reviews now! Woo-hoo! We're nearing the end, so I kinda doubt we'll get above 800, but 700 is quite an impressive number! Feel free to add to them, however.

Minor points on continuity: Sakura's desire for axes comes from one of Kishi's drawings that depicts Sasuke with an enormous sword, Naruto with a great scroll, and Sakura with a pair of formidable axes. Fans have constantly speculated that, as Sasuke has acquired a sword and Naruto a great scroll for his sage mode, surely Sakura's axes cannot be far behind. So far, though, nothing has been seen.

The idea of the multiverse that Terrific puts forth is a big, BIG part of the DC mythology. You might even pick up some references in his talk there. I can't say I actually like the idea of a multiverse... I prefer a more unified system... but it works well for this story, and it does have a number of interesting implications.