A/N: The plot thickens.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

Chapter 25

Itachi stretched his back with a wince. His hair was loose, falling around his shoulders in a sopping, sweaty mass. It was hotter wearing his hair this way, but it was the only protection his neck had from the ferocious sun that blazed in the sky.

He was shirtless, as every other man was. His daughters wore as little as possible, working in skimpy shorts and bras. Raiden and the triplets had woken up and were lending what aid they could. The majority of the work was done by Juro, Yukio, Naruto and clones of all three.

They had one structure, the large one for the Uchiha, complete. Had he not seen it with his own eyes and participated in erecting it, he never would have believed it possible to complete an entire ten-room house by shortly after noon. Or what he assumed noon was. The yellow-white sun was just past the noon mark in the sky.

The majority of the work had been done by Juro, Yukio and their clones. Everyone else, Naruto's hundred clones included, took instruction from the fraternal twins. Itachi got to see his sons in their element. They were true geniuses in their field, even braving the forest to cut down several of the towering trees.

That had been an enterprise in itself. The forest was actually farther away than it appeared. Traveling at speeds that generated a cooling wind on their bodies, they had needed more than two hours to reach it. Once there, they'd stood staring in open-mouthed shock at trees that climbed well into the stratosphere of this world, some even crowned with cloud cover.

The chainsaw broke on the first tree. Disgusted, Yukio brought out a huge cross-cut saw. He and Juro gripped the wooden handles on either end of it, set the teeth against the bark of the enormous tree and proceeded to work with an economy of motion and synchronization that amazed everyone.

It was hard work. The only way to keep the teeth of the saw from warping on the granite-like bark was to move it fast enough to slice through the ridges in the bark. The chainsaw was a good tool, but not as sturdy and crude as the cross-cut saw. Juro and Yukio set their feet in a wide stance, pushing and pulling the saw rapidly between them. It was soon evident why they were as muscular as they were. It was grueling work, the muscles in their arms and back rippling steadily as they sawed furiously.

There were two cross-cut saws. Konohamaru and Naruto took up the other, since they were the two strongest men present. They watched how the twins worked the saw and set about cutting down another tree that Yukio pointed out between grunts.

Naruto swore, alarmed at how it taxed the back atrociously to move the saw against the grain of wood. Konohamaru gave it his all, his ponytail dripping down his bare torso as he labored.

The trees crashed with earth-shaking force, sending up clouds of broken branches and whirling leaves. They'd been careful to choose trees with a narrow enough circumference to be cut by the saws, but even so, they were tremendous.

Kenpachi had a brief bit of fun whacking off the thick branches, until they were left with a relatively smooth log the length of the tree. The branches were piled to one side. Naruto and Raiden set to work using needle sharp wind chakra to slice the trees into wheels and planks. Everything, planks, wheels, saplings and branches, was carried by everyone back to the plateau. They'd set to work immediately.

Now Itachi stood back, taking a break as he watched Juro hang a door on the recently completed house. Off to one side he saw Konohamaru slap at Hiroko's ass as she passed him, making a remark about when their own cabin would be finished. Itachi saw his daughter blush brilliantly, ducking her head to hide her smile.

It was wonderful being surrounded by all his children, working with them, learning things about them that he'd never known. He hadn't known the harpies were capable of such taxing labor, or that Shouta could run so fast or that Kenji was afraid of snakes. A large one had watched them in the forest and Kenji had shamelessly hid behind Kenta while his twin roasted it with a fireball. He hadn't known Kaito was into botany either. When asked about it, Kaito said it was something he'd studied as a hobby after Zetsu had kidnapped him and he'd been forced to live off plants during their run to the Akatsuki hideout. Kaito had steered them all clear of some plants he recognized as poisonous by the way everything around it seemed to be dying.

The only blight on Itachi's contentment was the absence of Gaara. The Kazekage had opted to remain in their world, preparing his country for the arrival of Akatsuki. Yanagi was with him, having said a tearful goodbye to the triplets. Itachi had wanted to send the triplets with Gaara, but they had set up their own pleas to remain with their father. Masaru had even unbent enough to wrap his arms around Itachi's waist, begging not to be sent away. Itachi, a stern expression on his face, had melted inside. He'd quickly extracted himself from the embrace and hidden himself in his room, blinking furiously to hold back the moisture in his eyes. Of course he'd consented to let them come. Had he known that little scene had been a calculated act on his sons' part he might have decided differently.

Sasuke was setting out food. Itachi estimated Aimi, Wyatt and Hiroto had been gone about seven hours. He wondered, as he walked to where everyone was sitting down to lunch, if their mission was going well.

It wasn't.

The first part had gone smoothly enough. They'd arrived in the attic of the manor, finding it thankfully empty. Aimi said she sensed someone downstairs. A quick, silent search showed Coop sitting in the solar, reading a book. He didn't see or hear them and they retreated back to the attic.

Wyatt scratched his chin. "I wonder what he's doing here and not my mom or Dad?"

"Hurry and get what you need," Hiroto said shakily. He'd had little in his stomach to heave up so recently after the move to the other world, but it hadn't stopped him from retching anyway. "I want this mission over with before trouble comes. What do you need me to do?"

Wyatt went to the Book of Shadows. "Cover the door. Put a Genjutsu on anyone who comes through."

Aimi had instructions to tell him when she sensed his mother or aunts coming. She sat on the couch and proceeded to keep a mental lookout.

Before opening the book, Wyatt reached into a pocket and pulled out a long scroll. Ryota had jotted down an endless list of magical supplies in his untidy scrawl, things he said the magic book required for spells. Some of it was stuff Wyatt needed himself. He was sure some of the ingredients could be found in the kitchen, but most of the items Ryota had listed Wyatt had never heard of.

He shrugged. He'd deal with the list later. He opened the Book of Shadows, took a blank notebook out of his backpack and proceeded to look up and copy all the practical spells he could find, ones not dealing with specific demons.

He'd realized belatedly that he couldn't just take the Book out of the manor, much less to another dimension. His parents would notice. Copying the spells took precious time, but it was the only way.

He wrote for hours. His hand cramped several times, but he kept at it until he'd copied all he could. Shutting the book, Wyatt looked up. Hiroto and Aimi hadn't moved. "We still good?"

"No one coming yet," Aimi confirmed.

Wyatt took out Ryota's scroll again. "Good. I have to leave for a bit, see if I can find this stuff. Will you guys be all right here?"

"Go," Hiroto urged. "We'll be fine."

Wyatt orbed away.

***

He was careful to hurry. The longer he stayed in his world, the greater the chance his aunt Paige would sense him. The Elders themselves might sense his presence and inform his mom and aunts. He didn't even want to think about how ugly things would get then. He didn't want to fight his aunts and he especially didn't want to go up against his mom's blasting power when she was really pissed.

Getting the supplies required another few hours. He made it home towards evening, orbing into the attic to find Hiroto pacing with worry. "What took you so long," the blonde man hissed. "I heard that man moving around downstairs. We need to go back now."

"I can't," Wyatt said. He struggled to set all the packages down without making noise. "I need my sword."

"Piper and Leo are on their way home," Aimi said from the couch. "From across town, I think."

"Damnit!" Wyatt ran a hand through his hair, noticing absently that it was past his collar now.

Okay, he thought to himself. Focus. How to call the sword? He tried calling for it vocally, but nothing happened. Aimi and Hiroto watched. He tried again. "Excalibur."

Still nothing. He devised a spell on the spot. "Blade of magic, owned by man, bring Excalibur, to my hand." He held his hand out, willing the sword to appear. Nothing happened.

And that was when the mission started going south.

A squeaking of the stairs leading up to the attic was their only warning. Coop opened the door suddenly and Hiroto rushed to cast a Genjutsu.

"Wait!" Coop said desperately. "Wait, don't attack." He held up a hand in a warding off gesture, gripping the doorknob in his other hand.

Hiroto glanced at Wyatt, waiting for instructions. It was his world, his relative after all. Wyatt, on edge, gestured stiffly. Hiroto backed down. Coop relaxed slightly, coming into the room and closing the door behind him. "Wyatt?" he asked softly.

Wyatt nodded jerkily, tensed to orb them all away. "What's the matter, Uncle Coop? Don't you recognize me?"

Coop almost hadn't, actually. Wyatt had been gone for a month. He'd changed drastically in that time. His hair was longer, streaked with blonde as if he spent a lot of time outside. His skin was tanned, also lending to the outdoors theory. His body was thicker, looked stronger, as if he did a lot of physical activity. There was a confidence evident in him that hadn't been present before.

Coop's eyes went to Aimi as she stood and came to stand by Wyatt. He went back to studying his nephew. "Wyatt," he said now. "Your family is worried sick, they'll be so happy to see you're back."

"I'm not," Wyatt said, aware that time was escaping him, bringing his mother closer to the manor. "I need to find Excalibur. Do you know where my mom put it?"

Coop didn't argue with Wyatt, but he didn't give up either. "Wyatt, please. If you could see how heart-broken your mother and father have been… It's why I'm here, actually. Piper requested someone always be in the house in case you came back. Please, Wyatt, at least talk to them, tell them you're all right."

From downstairs, came the sound of a door slamming. "Coop?"

It was Piper.

Wyatt, desperate, closed his eyes.

Excalibur

Coop lunged for the attic door, opening it and shouting at Piper that Wyatt was up stairs. A distant scream, before Hiroto could be heard tackling Coop to the floor.

Excalibur is-

Piper, with Leo, running up the stairs, screaming for Wyatt, making his heart pound and hurt abominably with the remembered sound of her voice. He suddenly remembered the way his mother smelled, how good her cooking was, how much he loved and missed his family. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, tears leaking from them as he fought against the urge to answer her. She'd be mad, but then she'd be loving and soft and motherly and he needed that. Raiden's world was so hard and he needed his mother.

But Raiden needed him too. His love for Raiden shielded him against the emotions his mother called up and just as she was coming up the last few stairs to the attic, he bent every particle of his mind on that sword.

EXCALIBUR IS MINE

And with this surety in his ownership, he sensed the sword, hidden, and orbed it to himself. Aimi touched his arm, Hiroto put a hand on his shoulder and they were Boomed just as Piper threw open the attic door, screaming his name. All she caught was a swirl of lavender from Aimi.

Piper stumbled into the room, Leo behind her. She stood where her son had stood, and she could smell him. She turned, stricken, broken at the thought of her son leaving when he'd heard her calling for him, leaving without seeing her, and found Leo's arms waiting. They sank to the floor, Piper wailing in anguish. Coop watched sadly.

They arrived back on the plateau and Wyatt staggered away, clutching his chest, where his heart felt as if it was breaking. Raiden ran to him, slamming into him and hugging him fiercely. Wyatt sobbed into the sturdy shoulder. "I heard her, she was right there. Oh god, Raiden. I almost stayed… I-I wanted to, but I wanted to come back more and…. I heard her screaming for me, Raiden."

Kneeling in the rocky soil that covered the plateau with Wyatt, Raiden held him tightly, rocking his bawling friend back and forth. He didn't say anything, didn't know what to say. He only held on, crushing Wyatt to him, feeling his pain as if it were his own.

Aimi walked up to where her fathers were watching the scene solemnly. "I haven't eaten since our own world. I want food. Now. I'm starving."

***

Later when evening fell, a campfire was lit outside the house in a fire pit they'd made. Wyatt and Aimi were still sleeping from earlier in the afternoon. Raiden sat next to his sleeping friend in the room allotted to Sasuke, Naruto and their kids. After awhile he lay down beside Wyatt and slept too. Aimi snored softly across the room on the floor.

Ryota was sharing a room with Masaru, Kei and Shouta. Currently he was the only one in it, looking at all the stuff Wyatt had brought back for him. He held a candle to the jar of newt eyes, examining the beady little things with morbid interest.

"So Gaara was right," Itachi said from the doorway.

Ryota squealed, nearly dropping the jar. He tried to hide the packages by standing in front of them, but this was impossible. The parcels were too many. "Dad! What do you mean?" But he knew perfectly well what his father meant.

Itachi crossed his arms, studying his son. "Gaara said you and your brothers were toying with a power he couldn't identify as chakra. He caught the title of a book lying in your room the night he caught you. Magic. Ryota, what are you up to?"

The boy hung his head, holding the jar of newt eyes behind his back.

"Where did you get the book?" Itachi asked as he stepped into the room. He stooped and picked up the candle. He held it to a bundle of some weedy looking plant labeled as sage. When his son remained silent, Itachi turned to him. "Answer me."

"From mom," Ryota whispered.

"Willow?" Itachi's voice displayed rare emotion: incredulity.

There was no holding the tale in at that point. Ryota had the presence of mind to leave out the reason for seeking his mother out, saying instead that he and his brothers had only wanted to meet her. Finding out he was slightly magical had been an accident, something his mother had told him.

Itachi stared around at the supplies. He remembered how powerful Willow was. She was virtually unstoppable. He had been proud to have her birth children for him, thinking her a warrior that would breed strong offspring.

He looked at his son. Ryota was no warrior. He was a laughing jackal of a boy, never serious about anything. But if Gaara's account of what he'd seen was accurate, he might equal his mother yet. Itachi had no idea how magic worked or if, in fact, it was possible for Ryota to match Willow in ability. As yet, none of the triplets had displayed Sharingan. He was waiting to see if his youngest children would follow in the steps of their siblings, but if not, having a child with Willow's power would be an asset.

"Ryota," he said suddenly.

The blue eyes, so like Willow's, looked up at him fearfully.

"You may continue with the magic. It may help us. But even if it doesn't, it would be well to have an Uchiha as powerful as Willow is." He handed the sage and the candle to his shocked son. "But if I hear of you leaving to other worlds again, you will bleed. I will not have the waywardness of Sasuke's children rubbing off on my own, nor will I be as lenient as he is with disobedience. Going to other worlds is dangerous, and we are plagued with enough without you three disappearing." Itachi held his son's gaze until Ryota nodded shakily that he wouldn't do it again.

Ryota breathed a sigh of relief when his father left. He sat down to organize the supplies Wyatt had brought, still dazed by his father's acceptance of the craft.

The hard work everyone had put in that day had had them finishing most of the food. Sumiko examined the rations and announced they'd need to replenish their stores soon.

"Someone needs to go hunting," Lee said. He looked pointedly at Naruto.

The blonde frowned. He knew Sakura had thrown a fit when she'd learned Lee was leaving her for months to come train Aimi. When he'd asked Lee about it during a break today, his friend had said that the separation would be good for him and Sakura. "She refuses to marry me, but insists I stay by her side. She and I can both use the time apart to think about our relationship." Lee had turned away then to continue digging the well.

Naruto didn't know what needed to be thought about. Lee and Sakura had been together most of their lives, going on fifteen years now. What he did know was that Lee had been just a little less pleasant than normal since leaving his former team mate. The look he gave Naruto now was sharp, unsmiling.

"Why me?" Naruto asked. "This isn't like the time we were exiles and nobody knew how to do anything. Everyone here can hunt."

Lee didn't answer, wrapping his hands in the strips of cloth he usually wore. He'd taken the bandages off when he'd been working earlier.

"I'm not going into that forest at night," Kenji said. "A lot of snakes are nocturnal." Talk turned to selecting a hunting party and acquiring food in the form of roots and other edible plants.

Yachiru heard a noise behind her and turned around. She saw a tiny creature, perhaps six inches high. It had leathery wings folded on its back, but its body was furry. It crouched on all fours, its huge eyes looking up at her curiously. It made the sound again, a soft fluting, almost like a chirp. A fluttering of wings, and a second creature, identical to the first, landed beside it. Their fur looked as soft as down, glossy black and shiny.

Everyone was sitting in a large circle around the campfire. Shouta was next to her. "Look," she told him, pointing at the two creatures.

Shouta turned to look at what she showed him. He recoiled almost immediately, noticing the long claws on their furry little paws. Their eyes were disproportionately large, standing out from their heads, pale and shining. "Aren't they cute?" Yachiru giggled. She reached out a hand to pet one.

Shouta shouted a warning at the same time the creatures opened jaws impossibly wide and ringed with a triple row of pointed, wickedly sharp teeth. Yachiru screamed, lunging backward as the things lunged at her.

Suddenly the night was full of the things, dropping out of the sky and creeping from beyond the circle of light cast by the campfire from where they'd been quietly gathering.

Now everyone screamed and roared as it became evident that the little furries were hostile. They bit chunks out of the ninja before jutsu were finally called forth to do away with the fuckers. The shinigami sliced them from the sky, froze them, shot them with Kido spells, but when one dropped, ten more appeared. Then a hundred, then thousands of the things were shrieking and swarming around the beset group. Fingers were lost, ears, a nose, an eye. The people were now invisible as the swarm thickened around them, drawn by the light of the large campfire.

Inside the house, Raiden stirred in his sleep. He heard shouting distantly from his slumber, but didn't wake up, too exhausted from the day of work.

Sasuke sent wave after wave of lightning and fire, but there was no end to the little shitters. "Naruto!" He couldn't even see his demon.

Gokakyu was the only thing even remotely effective, but it wasn't enough.

Ryota had fallen asleep. He woke slowly, his face stuck to a page in the book of magic. Still half asleep, he frowned in puzzlement a moment, wondering why he was uneasy…

His bothers. Masaru and Kei in mortal terror. He gasped, running to throw open the house door and look outside.

He had to slam the door shut again, scared badly by the screaming and the black cloud of howling, carnivorous creatures. Some had made it inside the house. They lost no time attacking him. Ryota stumbled backward, dispatching them with lightning shot from his hand. He barely paused to examine this unprecedented display of chakra in himself, running for his uncle Sasuke's room.

Raiden came around groggily to the punches landing on his face. He raised a forearm, blocking tiredly as he rolled over.

"Get up," Ryota hollered. "Raiden!"

Raiden did get up, coming around quicker when he heard Wyatt and Aimi's names being called too. He rubbed his eyes, yawning. "What-" he began. But then he heard the screams. He bounded up, Wyatt and Aimi awake by now and running behind him. Ryota led the way.

Some of them were down. Shouta was sprawled by the fire, being guarded by a shrieking Yachiru, her pink chakra whipping around her, sword slicing and whirling. Hiroko was down, her Genjutsu abilities likely no help in this situation. She was covered in the creatures, only recognizable by her pale hair peeking out from between the black bodies. Konohamaru dropped next to her, one of the things attached to his face, greedily eating his eyes, even as the four kids watched in horror. Kei and Masaru were down.

Ryota charged, lightning erupting wildly from him. He was soon covered as well, still screaming.

Wyatt was calm. He put his shield up around himself and Raiden and walked into the maelstrom of shrill creatures. They bounced off his shield, their eyes rolling madly, blood and froth dripping from their wide mouths. Raiden held Death Spheres ready in his hands, transformed and trembling, watching how his pop and dad fought back to back, bloody and mutilated.

Wyatt went to the first fallen body and orbed the creatures away from it. It was Ibiki, covering the body of Akane. Both were unconscious and missing a few body parts. One of the creatures was crushed in Ibiki's fist. Wyatt laid his hands on each and began healing them.

His shield dropped.

Wyatt paused as Raiden threw his spheres as fast as he could form them, slinging them at the creatures while beating his own wings to keep them off himself. Apparently, Wyatt deduced, it was impossible for him to do two magical things at once, like heal and maintain his sphere.

A creature landed on the back of his neck and Wyatt felt teeth sinking into his flesh, a hungry mouth sucking the blood that poured forth. Even as he screamed and reached behind himself, he saw one of Raiden's wings being shredded. Raiden's black chakra swirled out of him, already healing himself.

Then Aimi was there, her chakra surrounding her as Wyatt's shield had surrounded him. She came running up, falling beside Wyatt and looking around with terrified eyes. The creatures swooped toward her and were obliterated at contact with her corrosive chakra.

Seeing this, Aimi expanded the shield and enveloped everyone, Pulling them into a tight group by the fire. Outside her shield was pitch black, the sky and plateau obscured by the massive swarm.

Raiden actually kissed his sister quickly before running to Wyatt and examining the back of his neck. Wyatt brushed him aside, speaking urgently to Aimi.

"The bodies, Aimi. Fold the creatures away from the bodies before they kill everyone!"

Aimi did this and moaned behind her hands at seeing how badly everyone was hurt. Kenpachi seemed all right, only missing an ear and part of his nose, but the rest… oh, god her papa!

Wyatt was all business, healing each person in turn until they were back to normal. Raiden could see that restoring eyes, fingers and other limbs required more from Wyatt than ordinary healing did. His friend was sagging by the time he healed Sumiko, the last one. He caught Wyatt as he collapsed, close to a faint from overuse of his magic and too little rest.

***

Aimi still had her shield up. No one went near it, huddling in the middle, as far from its boundary as possible, aware that she couldn't protect them from it if she had to keep it effective against the host of flying creatures. Naruto went to her and sat down, holding her as she watched the creatures dive again and again to their deaths against her shield.

The others were silent, sitting and watching in gruesome fascination, grateful for being whole and unhurt again. Asami healed Wyatt's neck.

Finally Kei said, "It's the fire. They're attracted to the light."

Naruto doused the fire with water he called up. The only light now came from the faint glow of Aimi's chakra.

There must have been a million of them. They dispersed slowly. Fewer and fewer tried to penetrate Aimi's dome of chakra, until eventually the stars could be seen again. Aimi didn't release her shield, but covered her face in her hands and shivered. She didn't cry. She never cried. Sasuke put an arm around her with Naruto, drawing her close. "I hate it here," she shrieked, making everyone wince.

The rest had to agree, this world sucked. Big time. They sat looking at the dead bodies of the creatures littered around the plateau as dawn slowly lightened the sky.

They waited until the sun was at least an hour over the horizon before letting Aimi put her shield down. They quickly went into the house and barred the door. Yumichika and Ikkaku stood guard.

***

They slept the entire day. Toward afternoon, Kenpachi and Hitsugaya relieved Yumichika and Ikkaku and took over guard duty.

That night they sat in the main room of the house, one candle sitting in the middle of their circle as they discussed options.

"I say we get the blue fuck off this sonofabitching world," Kenji stated emphatically. Kenta nodded beside him.

"I want to go home," Aimi whimpered.

"I'm sure Sakura misses me enough by now to marry me," Lee offered.

"I can train in Suna as well as anywhere," Itachi said. He avoided the look of contempt Sasuke threw him.

"I'm useless if I can't use Genjutsu," Hiroko quavered. Konohamaru hugged her, nuzzling her hair.

Akane spoke for all the harpies. "We like a challenge, but this world sucks shit."

Udon used logic. "I think it's obvious that the reason humans don't thrive here is because this world is too unfriendly. The creatures here are at the top of the food chain. We are at the bottom."

"I really don't like leaving Hanabi to have the baby alone," Kaito added.

Everyone except the shinigami and Sasuke had something to say in favor of leaving. Naruto's blue eyes rested on each person in turn as they spoke. He pulled thoughtfully on his lip, listening to everyone's arguments. When they'd all spoken, he sat up straighter and met their eyes. "We're staying."

A chorus of outraged yells sprang up. Naruto held up a hand.

"Here me out," he said. "The challenges of this world are a good thing. We've gotten soft, living in a peaceful village. We need these adversities; we can train against them, use them to make ourselves stronger. This is survival, guys. What better way to prepare for Akatsuki and whatever else might be coming? I say we stop whining and start acting like ninja."

There were thoughtful murmurs, glances exchanged.

"I'm with Naruto," Sasuke said quietly.

"We agree to stay," Kenpachi smiled widely. "Best fun I've had in a long while."

Itachi wavered. He caught the smug, challenging look Sasuke threw him and firmed his resolve. "Very well. We stay."

Traumatized by the flying creatures from the previous night, they decided that all work must be done before sundown. They spent the next day cutting down more trees and hunting for food.

The youngest kids were left on the plateau. Aimi sat miserably in front of the house, watching Ryota lift a rock with a simple spell. Raiden was watching Wyatt examine Excalibur. Masaru was sharpening a kunai and Kei was looking at his book. He closed it now and came to sit beside Aimi.

"Well, I finally finished the book," he said in tones of satisfaction. "I have a nice working knowledge of how portals operate and where some dimensions are located in relation to where we are. How about you?"

Aimi looked at him dully. "How about me, what?"

"How are you coming with the fifth and sixth dimensions?"

Aimi resumed study of Ryota and his efforts. "I'm good."

Kei nodded. "So shall we go ahead and start bringing the help?"

"I don't know… my papa says I'm not supposed to go anywhere. I'm to stay right here and train."

Kei was silent, waiting. Masaru, still sharpening his kunai, spoke without looking up. "If we don't get that army, we don't have a chance. We need them, Aimi. Your parents need them, we all need them."

Raiden had been quietly listening as he watched Wyatt with his sword. Now he turned to his sister. "Sis, I know you're scared and everything, but we have to do this. Phoebe said it was the only way, remember? We have to."

Aimi hugged herself, wishing she was home in her soft bed, her papa downstairs making a nice stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes. The ones with blueberries in them. She would go downstairs, find a huge stack all for herself, complete with slices of bananas, strawberries and kiwis on top. The can of whipped cream would be waiting for her and she would spends long minutes squirting kanji shapes onto her pancakes and then drown the entire thing in half a bottle of syrup. Those were the best mornings.

Not waking up to find the carcasses of those mad creatures still littering the plateau. Not waking up to find that so much still rested on her shoulders. And not waking up to know they were still living this nightmare, that somewhere on a distant world Akatsuki was training to kill them.

Raiden hated when his little sister pouted like that. He scooted over to her and gave her an awkward hug, patting her solid back. She was as filthy as the rest of them were, he noticed. Aimi sniffed, hugging back. Wyatt, Ryota and Masaru came over so that they were all sitting in a huddle. Aimi sat back and took a breath, feeling slightly better. "Okay. The sooner we get help, the sooner we can all begin training."

"Precisely," Kei said.

"Who's coming with me?" Aimi asked.

The boys looked at each other. "Just me, I guess." Kei said uncertainly. "Can you sense any of them?"

Aimi transformed partway, only her eyes changing. She tilted her head back, seeing things only she could. "I sense quite a few… there are some good and bad. Ah…"

"What," Raiden said anxiously.

"I found four together."

"Excellent!" Kei enthused. "Let's go there first."

Aimi frowned, looking at her cousin. "What if they don't want to come with us? They'll be just as hard to convince as everyone here, won't they?"

Kei chewed his lip. "Well… we'll think of something. If worst comes to the worst we simply won't give them a choice."

Wyatt snorted. "That's kidnapping."

"Why, yes. Yes it is," Kei said cheerfully. "And this is life or death. I'd say kidnapping is a small thing in comparison, wouldn't you?"

Wyatt didn't comment.

"Okay, Aimi… shall we?" Kei stood and hugged the book he'd been reading to his narrow chest.

Aimi sighed and stood with him. She looked around, shaking her head. Then she Boomed, taking Kei with her.

The others settled down to wait, sure she'd be back in no time at all. They were pretty anxious to meet this 'help' finally. It promised to be intriguing at the very least.

Sumiko led the hunting party. She crept silently, watchfully, through the dense foliage of the forest, the plants all higher than she was. Sunlight was almost completely blocked by the high canopy of trees and vines. Occasional tendrils of green-tinged light filtered down, illuminating swatches of the forest. She felt like an ant in the dirt, everything way bigger than she was.

Akiko, Shouta and Kaito made up the rest of the party. Kaito had already filled up a sack with some kind of fig-like fruit he found growing on a bush. He'd sniffed it cautiously, tasted it tentatively, and pronounced the thing fit for consumption.

Sumiko held a drawn bow in front of her, moving forward in a crouch. She held up her fist and the others behind her halted. To be on the safe side, they were all masking their chakra, aware that animals could sense it. As of yet, they'd created no disturbance in the forest. They observed strange birds and ground animals going about their daily business as if they weren't there.

The creature Sumiko had her sights on was large, its shoulder higher than Kaito's head, and he was six-foot-four. It seemed to be a species of deer. The horns were colossal, curving forward in front of the thing's head. It had four eyes, like the creatures that had chased them on their first night here, but the secondary eyes were placed near the odd, drooping ears. The overall color was a tannish brown, with black and white stripes. It grazed peacefully on a pink shrub, chewing the leaves with obvious relish.

Sumiko sighted along the arrow shaft, drawing back to her ear. She took careful aim, wanting to bring the beast down quickly. She waited a heart beat, two… then released the arrow.

It flew true, hitting the beast squarely in one of its main eye sockets, but it didn't go down. It reared up, letting out a deafening bray of sound before turning and galloping away.

The four Uchiha were up and after it instantly, running full tilt in pursuit of their dinner.

The deer thing covered a lot of ground, fast despite its size. It bounded nimbly over enormous tree roots and low bushes, the ground shuddering every time its four cloven hooves came down. Shouta was in the lead, zipping along after it, leaping nimbly along the lower branches as he followed the deer thing's headlong dash. He was forced to unmask his chakra to do it, but he was gaining on the thing.

The deer made a sharp left and headed for a darker part of the forest. Sumiko called out a warning for Shouta not to lose the animal and he heeded, dropping from the trees to land on the thing's back, stabbing into its thick neck with his kunai.

The creature kept running.

Shouta held on for dear life, an arm thrown up to block the branches that slapped at his face. He flattened himself on the crazed deer's neck and reached for the arrow protruding from the eye socket. He gave it a vicious twist, making the creature rear up and paw the air, bellowing in pain. Shouta was thrown into the bole of a tree, the wind knocked out of him. He rolled painfully to his side in time to see the creature charging at him, horns lowered to skewer him where he sat.

Kaito appeared from nowhere, leading with a flying kick that staggered the animal off course long enough for Sumiko and Akiko to land on it, going for its jugular. Kaito jumped in to help as Shouta got to his feet, and by the time the blonde boy made his way to them, the thing lay dying in the dirt, kicking weakly. The blood pulsed from its slit throat in diminishing spurts.

Sumiko went to Shouta and clapped him on the side of his neck. "Not bad, little brother!"

The hunting party made it back to the plateau just before the others returned with fresh wood for the other structures. Sundown was an hour away, so no work would be done on the other buildings until the next day.

"Damn, what about cooking this thing?" Kaito said. He kicked at the huge deer creature he and his siblings had dragged back. "Only an hour of sunlight left… we can't cook it in an hour and we can't light a fire or those things from the other night will come back."

"We need a wood stove," Juro said. "If we could go back to Konoha for a sec, we could pick one up." He looked at Naruto.

Naruto was looking around, a frown forming on his face. "Where's Aimi?" he asked suddenly.

Raiden groaned inaudibly. He and the others had expected her back hours ago. When they'd seen the adults coming back, they'd secretly hoped the absence of two kids would go unnoticed. There were so many people that it hadn't seemed like an unreasonable wish. But their dad had noticed right away and now the shit was going to hit the fan. Again.

Kenpachi stepped forward. "Boy, you'd better answer. My woman-"

Sasuke delivered a roundhouse kick to the back of Kenpachi's head that had the tall captain sliding his sword out of its sheath, turning with a feral grin of welcome for the sudden violence.

"She's not your woman, you fucking pedophile," Sasuke raged. He drew his own sword, but Naruto got between the two men and shoved them apart with a snarl.

"Fuck it, will you two stop?! Look at you! Aimi's gone and all you can think to do is fight over some stupid shit??" Naruto turned in exasperation to Kenpachi. "She isn't your woman, and if you keep this up, we'll be forced to send your bony ass home." He turned to his son. "Now. Raiden. Where is she?"

"And where," Itachi said, coming to stand by the blonde, "is Kei?"

Raiden tried to keep silent. He figured they wouldn't be able to drag the information from him and hopefully Aimi would come back soon and they'd see the answer for themselves. But if he opened his mouth and told them where she'd gone, they'd never believe him.

Itachi's question spawned a deep silence. Naruto, in the interest of preventing further alienation from his son, spoke into this silence. "Raiden, please. Just tell us where they are. No one's in trouble… yet. But we need to know."

Raiden stubbornly kept his lips sealed. Ryota, however, piped up with, "They went to get help. The Bijuu army. Dad, I told you we knew where it was, but you wouldn't listen to us."

"The Bijuu army," Sasuke said dryly. He snorted. "From where? There are no other Bijuu."

Itachi spoke up, demanding to know where Kei had gone. Sasuke and Naruto spoke to Wyatt and Raiden just as urgently, with Kenpachi threatening dire consequences if Aimi wasn't found. The others started joining in, with Udon asking intellectually where this army could be located and who it consisted of. The noise and arguing escalated as the sun cast dying orange rays of light over the plateau.

***

Aimi Boomed into this scene. Kei was with her, as well as four individuals that had everyone staring in bug-eyed shock. There was a collective gasp.

There were two big men, a medium-sized one, and a boy with Aimi and Kei.

Naruto stared at one of the big ones.

Itachi stared at the boy.

Sasuke stared with red eyes at the medium-sized one and it was this one that spoke, shaking his dreads out of his eyes as he got a good look at Sasuke in turn.

"Well, well, well, Blondie," this dread-wearing one said to one of the big men with him. "Looks like the girl was right and there are other versions of us out in the universe. Ain't that some shit?"