I do not own Naruto okay? I know it's been a long time since I updated this one but hey, I am going to finish it. Eventually. Look how long it took me to finish Taboo. Anyway, I don't have much else to say here, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Sasuke, Suigetsu and Ino headed into Ame to try and find Itachi and Konan for Sasuke to fulfill his revenge. The very idea that Itachi would name his son after him was laughable in Sasuke's mind. And to have some woman caring for him he actually loved back? Couldn't be. Itachi was a soulless monster who just killed the clan to test his power. But if he was as soulless as you think, would he have really left you alive? Maniacs kill children too. A voice in Sasuke's mind said as he brushed the thought away. There was no exception, Itachi was the soulless monster that he needed to kill and had to die to avenge the Uchiha clan. He'd just take the child and raise it as his own. It was still an infant, it would just think of him and Karin as its natural parents. Sasuke wouldn't tell him anything about the fact of his real parents.

Suigetsu and Ino followed along, knowing that Sasuke was losing his mind and becoming more serious on things than he really should. But Suigetsu knew to expect this out of Sasuke. Anytime he became so close to reaching his goal, whatever it was, he would get this way and no one could get him to focus on anything else. The further along they went, the drearier it became. They had approached a lake that seemed to surround a large and dreary city with cold and industrial looks to it. It was here Sasuke stopped on one of the larger trees and waited for Suigetsu and Ino to join him.

"We've approached the city of Ame." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, way to point that out Captain Obvious." Suigetsu said as Sasuke looked at him annoyed. Ino laughed slightly. Suigetsu smiled and winked back at her, causing Ino to suddenly stop laughing and look like she never heard a more offensive joke in her life.

"But this is where the headquarters of Akatsuki are bound to be. And if the headquarters are here, then so will Itachi and Konan." Sasuke said as Suigetsu and Ino looked on. "So will their child."

"We should take some of the breathers and cloaks of the local ninja." Ino suggested. Sasuke looked over curiously. "Because they will hide our faces well. I am sure there may have some idea of you Sasuke from Itachi. They will suspect you of something. But if we can get in with no one thinking much of us, someone might let something slip that will help us out."

"That's a good idea." Sasuke said. He looked around and saw a trio of Ame ninja standing around talking by the lake. "Suigetsu, can you use your puddle jutsus to get close and get us the cloaks, hats and breathers."

"Can do." Suigetsu said as he blended into the lake and snuck up behind the other Ame ninja, surprising them and knocking them out. He then took the breathers, hats and cloaks and headed back to the tree where Sasuke and Ino were waiting for him. "Got it." He said as he tossed them up to Sasuke and Ino in turned and put his set up and climbed up to meet them to discuss the further plans. "And these things look horrible on you my dear Ino-chan. I cannot see your beautiful face."

Ino rolled her eyes but giggled slightly. Sasuke sighed in desperation and turned to them. "Okay now we have these on, they are not going to think we are foreign ninja and just look around for the Akatsuki headquarters and head in. Usually there will be some way deliveries or things they would have the commoners do to get inside but only so far."

"Well, what intel I could gather from the ninja I had used my mind transfer jutsu on told me they have a tower in the middle of the town that the leader stays in. It's here he acts like the leader of the village and runs it for Akatsuki." Ino explained.

"Well, that's where we will start. I am sure that Konan and Itachi would have to report there from time to time." Sasuke said as they jumped down from the tree and headed into Ame.

Once across the lake that bordered the city, they adjusted the hats and looked down and away to attract attention away from themselves. The tower was like a city hall and in the exact middle of the village and open for villagers to come in and leave their concerns with someone who might pass it along to Pein and be handled in a way to benefit Akatsuki. As Ame was the battlefield for many villages' wars over the years, leaving many of the people who lived there in poverty with ruined land and possessions whenever a war did break out, no one questioned Akatsuki. Even those who may disapprove of the methods didn't say so because the bigger goal of being able to live their lives without being the victims of war they weren't involved in to begin with.

Meanwhile, Konan had headed to the tower to handle some affairs of Ame. Normally Pein did this to keep things orderly in the village they were using as the headquarters. Today, she was supposed to get some of the more tedious and boring maintenance paperwork done in Pein's stead so Itachi was going to head into town with her and look after baby Sasuke there. They had believed that Ame would be safe enough with most of the people would would be a threat to their plans as members of Akatsuki off warring in Konoha. The length of the war had drained many resources that the villages who had declared war on them had been weakened and their civilians were calling for peace treaties to be signed. Konan sat in Pein's office and looked over at Itachi as she read over the first scroll.

"If only people could see you now..." Konan sighed as she looked over with a smile at Itachi and baby Sasuke.

"What?" Itachi said looking at Konan incredulously.

"Just, you know your reputation to the ninja world. The bloodthirsty monster who killed his clan just for power and went rouge joining the big bad group known as Akatsuki." Konan said. "Somehow that reputation does not match this scene in front of me. A new father bouncing his son up and down making him happy."

"That may be so, but reputations can often be misleading. They don't tell someone the full story of someone else." Itachi said as he smiled at Konan. She was known as 'God's Angel' and untouchable to anyone but Pein and would not just look at anyone else and had just a vengeful reputation when it came to anyone getting in way of God's will. A motherly figure was not expected out of her at all.

"That may be so, but what I said still stands." Konan said. "We need to look over the supplies that are being used. We cannot keep using the ultimate weapon we have."

"I trust that Pein-sama knows this." Itachi said. "And the alliance we have formed with the Hidden Mist has helped to keep food and medical supplies coming in that we cannot produce on our own."

"And the people of Ame seem to be willing to undergo rationing and work extra hours in our factories to produce what we can here." Konan said as she read some of the reports and took notes she was going to use to prepare a report for Pein who was out towards Konoha.

Out in the battlefields outside the forests of Konoha, Tsunade looked over with rage and frustration. This was her grandfather's village and she was trusted to protect it. But now the alliances were crumbling, Kumo was talking of either surrendering to Ame or just backing out altogether and not helping either side. Suna still was putting in what they could. She had met with Temari who acted as ambassador just recently. What she had reported from Suna was not good. Their manpower was being depleted and anyone poisoned in a battle on their fronts was suffering an agonizing death as they had depleted all the herbs that would counteract most of the poisons in the greenhouses they had for the apothecaries in Suna's hospitals. Gaara would not surrender and swore that Suna would ally with Konoha until the end but they could only do so much. Temari had confidentially told Tsunade this was because of Naruto's death at the hands of Akatsuki. Being a jinchūriki himself who was captured by Akatsuki but given a second chance because of Lady Chiyo's sacrifice, he felt as if he needed to repay Konoha in kind if they could not give someone who know the jutsu that saved him. It was at this, Tsunade yelled out to be alone and cried in her hands once Temari had left.

This needed to end and the war needed to end now. Tsunade knew that she was a Sannin. The last one left. Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both dead from what she had known, even if she doubted if Orochimaru hadn't done some sort of dark and forbidden technique that would prevent him from dying after all, meaning she had to maintain the honor of the name. She placed her hand on her necklace and whispered to herself, "Naruto, Jiraiya, you two must be having fun together in heaven. I just wish I never gave you this necklace to begin with. I should have known you'd befall the same fate as Dan and Nawaki." She said as she saw Katsuyu appear before her.

"Lady Tsunade!" The slug said before her. "Is everything okay?"

"Somewhat, but first tell me what news you have." Tsunade said.

"Things on the front are getting hectic." Katsuyu explained and then noticed the depressed look on Tsunade's face. "However, I can report that we are able to get more men back into the fight faster now that Sakura is helping us. I cannot help but think we could be doing better if she never had that injury you told us about, but she is doing so much more than I had expected."

"That's good." Tsunade said. "But I want her to go back to the hospital to get a treatment session with Karin soon. She isn't fully recuperated and back to how she was before the injury happened."

"I will tell her that Lady Tsunade." Katsuyu said. "I will request Shizune come along to relieve Sakura then."

"Just what I was thinking." Tsunade said. With this she looked at the sun rising on the hills to the east. This war isn't going to be over until Akatsuki is defeated. Naruto could have done it. I know it. He just has that way. He may have been a knucklehead but when push came to shove, he pulled through. Tsunade thought. Well, this is my grandfather's legacy, my village. I will try to find Pein and end this myself if I cannot do it on my own. Tsunade said as she headed back to her office to finish up a few things before she looked for him to fight him herself. She opened the door to find Gaara standing at her desk. "Gaara!" She yelled out in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Come to ask you to help me take down Pein. I know that this war will never end until the God like piece is taken out." He smiled as he looked at Tsunade. "I can also tell that you had the same idea in mind." She nodded. "This is the very least I can do to the village that saved me from Akatsuki. Naruto saved me from myself earlier on, when I found he had the same pain as I did in childhood being a jinchūriki. Then he and some of your ninja saved me when Akatsuki had captured me. If I had someone who knew the jutsu Lady Chiyo used to bring me back, I would send them over to do so for Naruto in a heartbeat. However, she was the only one who knew how to do it and destroyed all the records of it before she died. So I offer my aid to your battle against Pein as payment instead."

"Good. Just let me do one thing first." Tsunade said as she pulled out a scroll. "I, Tsunade Senju name Kakashi Hatake my successor as Hokage if I am to die in battle." She then put the Hokage's seal on it and turned to Gaara. "I don't trust the village elders to put the right person in charge if something were to happen to me. As long as I have this chosen beforehand, they cannot overrule it. Only the Daimyo can and he won't deny me."

"Ready?" Gaara said as he looked up at Tsunade.

"Ready." She said.

Sasuke, Suigetsu and Ino had headed into the tower in Ame with caution. They knew they would find some clue to get into the Akatsuki headquarters here, but they weren't sure where to look. The biggest thing they had agreed to do was to act as much like normal ninja in Ame who may just happened to be lost in the town hall. If they could keep that act up, they would be able to get the information that they would need. In the office, Konan whiffed the air and crunched up her face. "I think baby Sasuke needs a change." Konan said as she got up to take him to the bathroom and change his diaper.

"I'll handle it." Itachi offered.

"I have it. I need to use the restroom myself anyway and I don't like changing Sasuke in the office anyway.

"Sounds good. I have to take a break too." Itachi said as he followed Konan to the restrooms. He could tell something was amiss in the air, he just couldn't quite place what it was exactly. He had noticed 3 Ame ninjas wondering the town hall, but something seemed off with how they carried themselves. It had reminded him of some of Konoha's ninjas, even though one of them seemed to have more of a Hidden mist gaunt to him. It was a quite subtle detail that only the most intelligent of ninja would have noticed. Many jonin didn't even notice this kind of thing. Itachi kept a kunai close to him and followed Konan closely. She nodded to him to let Itachi know she had picked up the abnormality herself and held baby Sasuke to her chest tighter. Itachi headed into the restroom when Sasuke turned to notice him. He stood right at the door, waiting for him to come out.

As the door opened, Sasuke spoke, "How humiliating. You die right after you come out of the bathroom." Sasuke said.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I know it took me forever to update this one, but I am building up to a bigger fight and how Sasuke has his catharsis moment and debates revenge. And there was a bit of monologuing in the manga anyway. This is fanfic after all so I can take this how I want. And where I have finally finished Taboo, I can diversify my projects. I was looking to finish Minutes to Midnight before the end of the year too, but as the year is nearly over, that doesn't look to be happening any time soon. But I got one of the goals accomplished so yeah. Anyway, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm