Itachi's POV

For the first time in almost three years, Leader has ordered the Akatsuki to return to a base. This one was new obviously as the last one had been destroyed by a certain someone. Kisame and I arrived second last. Only arriving before Hidan and Kakuzu. Pein had yet to tell us why we were gathering again but I could only guess that it had to do with the successful capture of the one tail.

Kisame leapt before some old ruins. "We're here." He said, looking back at me.

I stopped beside him, nodding silently as we both made our way through the desolate buildings. The grey of the brick matching the leached cliffs surrounding them. There were many escape routes but as we got closer to the base, there were fewer until the bleached cliffs blocked the weak sun as it fought through the clouds.

I began walking away from Kisame, noticing a peculiarity along the cliff side.

Kisame noticed my absence quickly and turned around. "What now?"

I spared him a short glance, "The rock here. It looks tampered with."

"Probably cause of the towns people, they carved a road through the cliffs at one point."

"Recently?" I raised an eyebrow.

He shook his head.

"Then this was not there doing." I looked back, pressing my palm to the stone. "It's infused with chakra."

"Since when do we use security?" Kisame grinned, grabbing his sword.

I began walking, striding past him. "There's no need for that. Let's go."

Kisame frowned. "You sure?"

I nodded.

We continued our walk until we reached the base, the amount of chakra surrounding the place would have stood out at any other location. The need for security was higher than the need for privacy apparently. We walked up to the door, and opened it. A small amount of dust fell from the frame, as we entered the hallway. Tiled floors met hardwood as the larger rooms were revealed.

"Downstairs?" Kisame asked, staring at the final door in the hall.

I nodded, and he opened the door. Cool air circled out of the tunnel, and I moved my hand to push stray hair out of my face. Kisame had always said I should just cut it if it bothered me, but it didn't bother me anymore than his sharpened teeth bothered him. At one time I was curious enough to ask him whether his teeth cut his own tongue, our mission objective was unlucky enough to walk in right then so the question died on my tongue. Looking back now, it was probably best. I doubt Kisame would give me an answer, and he would have laughed for years about it after.

We entered the lengthy tunnel, Zetsu appeared halfway through to ensure it wasn't an intruder. Apparently we had an important guest coming. We got ourselves situated in a room, Pein at the table head, Deidara on the couch with Tobi 'asleep' beside him. Likely 'knocked out' by Deidara. Konan was absent. Zetsu was guarding the hall. That left Hidan, and Kakuzu. Sasori was reportedly killed during the capture of the One tail.

Once I had run through the mental checklist, I sat at the table end far from Pein. Kisame taking the seat opposite me. No greetings were given, and even Deidara was being oddly quiet. The atmosphere was more unnerving than an anbu meeting after a failed mission. Luckily I had only ever been in those meetings to observe.

Kisame had started fidgeting, it was only a matter of time before he broke the silence.

"So who's coming?" He finally asked and Deidara let out a relieved sigh as the tension broke.

Pein shook his head, "I can't say. Not until Konan and Zetsu verify it."

"Konan is working with Zetsu?" Deidara sat up, his nose scrunched. "Since when?"

"Only temporarily. She heard who it was and wanted to verify it herself, I sent Zetsu to greet them before they got to this room."

Soft footsteps resounded through the hall, as Konan entered the room. She looked composed as usual but her eyes looked alive for once.

She quickly walked to Pein and whispered something in his ear. Pein nodded, showing no change in his expression. "Now we wait for Zetsu to greet them."

Hidan's loud voice, echoed crudely off the walls. I sat straighter, something was odd this time. I listened closely. His voice was cut out twice as his talking continued, each time punctuated with a cry of pain and Hidan yelling Kakuzu's name even louder than his usual talk. Odd. What Hidan was saying wasn't abnormal for him, his swearing was something we were all used to. Yet, Kakuzu was specifically hitting him when he tried to swear.

"It's like he's trying to train him, yeah?" Deidara said, catching on to the pattern after another three cries of pain.

"Sounds like it." Kisame agreed.

Soon Kakuzu entered, followed closely by Hidan who sported a very nice black eye.

Deidara snickered. "How'd you get that?"

Hidan scowled, jutting a thumb over his shoulder. "She's gotten a lot better at fighting over the years."

She appeared out of the shadow, a sling around her neck and a smile on her face.

"It's nice to see everyone again." She moved across the room. "Pein, Konan." She nodded, before turning to the rest of us. "Itachi, Deidara. I missed you two."

She moved to sit beside me, allowing me to see the little bundle first. A small tuft of blonde hair stuck out of the blankets.

"What is that?" Deidara moved closer, looking quickly between her face and the bundle.

"A baby." She replied.

Pein stiffened visibly, Konan was watching him with lights dancing in her eyes as Kisame broke into a grin. Kakuzu and Hidan stood off to the side, no longer interested. They had already traveled more than 24 hours with it and the appeal must have worn off. I on the other hand had not experienced this since Sasuke, and though I didn't know how to react I did know that I wanted to see the child.

"May I?" I asked her, breaking the tension in the room as I held out my arms. "What's his name?"

Deidara stared at me with wide eyes that spoke of betrayal as Akira gently brought the child out of his sling and handed him to me with some instruction.

"I have held a baby before." I said, staring at him fondly. "Sasuke was a bit smaller though."

She giggled, "I'll bet. His name is Jitte. He's rather big for his age but be gentle with him."

"You're not supposed to accept it!" Deidara wailed as he waved his arms around. "Who's the father, yeah? Is he still there? How old is the kid? You're too young to have a baby!" He began shaking her, much to Jitte's amusement.

"Of course he's still there!" Akira smacked his arms away, eyebrows furrowed. "Jitte is still a baby, he's not there all the time but he's a very caring man."

Deidara stepped back, his mouth opening and closing several times before he admitted defeat. "As long- as long as you're happy I guess…" He muttered before he sunk into the couch.

Akira watched him, shaking her head once before she stood. "Stop pouting, would you?" She went and gave him a hug as I rocked Jitte, who was staring curiously at Kisame.

I noticed she was keeping a good distance from Tobi, but that was to be expected. Tobi wasn't the easiest to handle.

Pein stood quickly, and walked over to stand beside me. He looked to Akira before motioning to Jitte. "May I?"

"Of course." Akira said. "As long as you're gentle and support his neck."

"I want to hold him after." Konan said, appearing beside Pein as he awkwardly tried to hold the baby.

"You can hold him now." He practically threw Jitte into her arms as he couldn't get him to hold still in his own.

Konan smiled softly at Jitte, cooing and rocking him. He seemed to like her.

Akira grabbed Deidara's hand and dragged him over. "Deidara's turn." She said, taking the baby and handing him to Deidara.

Deidara gulped as the baby was placed into his hands, this was probably his first time holding a baby. He stared at him for a bit before relaxing his shoulders and sitting on the couch. "He's not bad." Deidara finally admitted with a smile.

"So this is what you meant by important guests?" Kisame said, wiggling a finger at the baby.

"I expected Akira." Pein said, "I did not expect the child."

Akira was always highly unpredictable when she was a younger teen, so it would seem that never changed. I smiled contentedly. Pity Sasuke wasn't here too.

Eventually we all moved to the inner rooms, some leaving to deal with there own work. I hadn't managed to leave before Pein called me back. I gave Jitte back to Akira who took him with a practiced ease.

"You needed me?" I asked.

"Keep an eye on Akira. I don't need her blowing up another base."

"She has a child; I doubt she's as reckless as she once was. She has him to think about after all."

Pein nodded, staring at his desk. "Still though, just in case."

Sai's POV

When we first found Naruto, my first thought was 'Akira would not like this' but that quickly passed as Sakura and I realized the truth. His chakra was being absorbed, he couldn't move.

Sakura immediately moved in with her insane punches. While I had to stay in the background. She used earth style to send Sakura flying but Captain Yamato appeared just in time to catch her. Our group was almost together again, but so was theirs. The woman I fought appeared beside the woman Naruto had previously been fighting? Kissing? Either way. A man also appeared and he seemed to know Captain Yamato so I could only assume they fought as well.

"We won't let you interfere." The woman I fought said.

The man created an earth style prison to hold Sakura, Yamato and I. All we could do was sit and watch as Naruto's chakra was sucked dry. Akira would likely expect a full report and this would be one part she would not like.

The woman began screaming, shoving Naruto away from her. Was he that bad of a kisser? All the more reason for Akira to stay away from him. As Naruto moved to get to his feet, a piece of the wall was blast through. Sora appearing once the dust settled.

"You monsters. I hope you have your tombstones ready."

"Sora." Naruto said.

"Who?"

"Ah it's that boy."

"So he's the one, huh."

Sora stood in front of Naruto. "I've come to back you up."

"Funny I don't remember calling for back up."

"Then why did I hear you cry out for help?"

"Who? Me? I never called out for help."

"Really? Well as long as I'm here, I guess I'll give you a hand."

"Okay."

Yamato tried to stop them, "Both of you! This fights too dangerous. Just run."

From what I've heard and from what I've seen I doubt Naruto will be backing down anytime soon. Naruto age 12 fought Mizuki, Orochimaru twice, Sasuke possibly numerous times which is potentially more lethal than Orochimaru, Gaara, Neji, sound five, kiba, Zabuza, Haku, am I forgetting anyone? Either way, age 16 Naruto is probably less likely to back down from a fight than his 12 year old counterpart.

I decided to sit down, whatever happens now is outside of our control.

"Sai, what are you doing?"

"Hm? Oh, there are certain personality types whose actions cannot be controlled. Naruto and Sora are two such types. Akira is also one such type," Not to mention Sasuke, "So I've become accustomed to just letting things happen. You should sit too."

That's strange I don't think I've ever seen someone more exasperated than Sakura just now.

Moments later the cave began rumbling, I quickly got to my feet. It wasn't the fight that caused it so what…

The ceiling collapsed, scattering the enemy. The stone pillars surrounding us disappeared as fire temple monks called out from above. The enemy leader appeared as well and silently called a retreat. I watched Sora carefully. He seemed to know the man. How far can we trust Sora?

Itachi's POV

So I was given orders to stay beside Akira and the child, I watched her play with him and calm him when he cried. She left me alone with him as Deidara would call her to help him with a bomb idea or two. I was lucky, I thought. The nostalgia at taking care of something so small brought an almost hidden smile to my face.

Now if only Tobi wasn't lurking in the background. Akira stayed the night with us, and as she put Jitte to bed I stood protectively at her side. Tobi appeared next to the make shift rib Kisame had made.

"He's so cute." Tobi's childish voice whispered. "Akira, can I speak to you? I want to know all about the baby."

Akira was tense, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. Opening my mouth to speak, she cut me off.

"I suppose. As long as Itachi protects Jitte while I'm gone." She looked pleadingly up at me.

"Just this once." I would only let Tobi speak to her alone once.

She nodded and left with Tobi skipping beside her. "I'll bring her back in one piece. Don't you worry, Itachi."

I turned to the sleeping Jitte. "Do you think she's strong enough?"

Jitte opened his eyes lazily, yawning once and smiling before falling into a peaceful sleep.

I couldn't tell if he knew what I meant, but it was reassuring to see something so innocent sleep peacefully even amongst criminals. So I waited.

And waited.

Akira didn't return until early morning, she walked with a stealth and pride I'd only seen on accomplished ninja. She was no longer the child we'd locked up once, she was stronger now and it was beginning to show.

"Did everything go alright?" I asked.

She nodded, walking quietly to Jitte's crib and brushing hair out of his eyes. "He thought Jitte was my son."

I stood, "Is he not?"

"No. He's Hiroka's and Leader's."

"Who?"

"My other other parents."

"Ah, so he's your little brother."

"Yes," She agreed. "But I didn't tell him that."

"That was probably a good idea."

We continued to keep an eye on Jitte, he woke once during the night for food and Akira let me feed him, just as I had fed Sasuke in the past.

"Does Sasuke- is Sasuke doing alright?" I asked.

"Of course. He's doing much better, I think. He's speaking more honestly. At least with me. I saw him recently. He told me to say hi for him."

"Did he now?" I could hardly believe my angry little brother would spare me a breath.

"Yep, he's still a bit mad, but if you actually told him things. I think you two would get along much better."

I didn't respond to her. I had told Sasuke some things but not all, I knew that his anger was easily transferable. It's one of the reasons I was so worried about him being manipulated by Orochimaru or Tobi.

Akira had spent the better part of a week reassuring me that Orochimaru would not harm Sasuke, though she wouldn't tell me the reason.

That didn't stop me from approaching him in civilized conversation though.

"Hey, Itachi."

"Hm?"

"Could you, maybe, take a look at these plans and tell me what you think?" She shyly slid some plans over.

I took them hesitantly; it was unlike her to be this anxious.

As I looked over the plans I saw why. She was planning to convert the Uchiha complex into some sort of civilian infrastructure. I wasn't against this but I had to make some small retouches.

"You can't put people in these buildings." I said, slipping a piece of paper to her.

She frowned as she looked it over. "Why not?"

"There are certain Uchiha secrets that need to be guarded, those houses sit on top of them and have doors leading into them. You understand, right?"

"Find the tunnels. Got it?"

"No."

She sighed, "Okay, okay. But seriously. What could you guys be hiding down there?"

"Our entire history."

Her shoulders slumped, "Alright, I suppose that's something important."

"Thank you."

"So can you please sign here?" She asked, pushing a land permit towards me.

"I don't know if they'll accept my signature."

"They will. You are one of the last after all."

I nodded sullenly. I flipped the page and saw Sasuke's rather neat signature. "His handwriting has gotten better." I mumbled.

"What was that?" Akira asked from across the room.

"Nothing." I signed quickly next to my brothers. "Done. I'm assuming that's all you came for?"

"Yeah…sorry." She said as she packed Jitte's things. "When Jitte wakes up, we've got to get going. I have some kids who need me back home, plus I need to get this thing started. It could take years…"

I smiled gently. "I have faith in you."

She paused smling back and taking the sheets from me. "Thank you, Itachi. Don't worry though, you'll have a house to return to when this is over."

"I can't go back."

"Why not? I can convince the village."

"No. I really can't go back."

She huffed, her hands on her hips. "Sasuke will come back one day and I want you to be back to. You can bring the Akatsuki if you want. I think Sasuke and I will have to convince Orochimaru as well."

I closed my eyes, she was going to bring criminals into the leaf village. Of course she was. "You can't do that either."

"Once Naruto's hokage I can."

I sighed, "I've already told you what I did right?"

"Sort of." She admitted, sitting with me. "Sasuke explained his side but you haven't said much about yours. Danzo was involved wasn't he?"

"The council, Danzo, even the third." I hung my head. "Shisui lost his life because of Danzo, and he passed on his wishes to me. Protect the Uchiha name." I stared at my hands. "I killed them, because they were too proud, too loyal to that name. They didn't see the damage they were doing; the damage they were going to do to our village."

Akira looked between my hands and me before gently taking one. "Why don't you tell Sasuke?"

"I can't. How am I to tell him that I killed our mother and father because they wanted war. I'm not going to tell him that."

"You should be honest with him."

"No."

She was silent, as I listened to Jitte's quiet breaths.

"Who was Shisui?"

I felt the slightest pull in the corner of my lip. "He was a very, very good friend of mine. He was told to monitor me when my clan began to suspect me. But he was – he was like me. He didn't want war. But his eye was stolen by Danzo, I tried to save him and we left. He gave me his left eye."

Akira gave me quite the look right then, something that read 'what's wrong with Uchiha's'.

"He told me to keep it away from Danzo."

"Wait, what did Danzo do with his eye?"

I frowned. "I'm not sure. But I believe he still has it."

"So we should kill Danzo."

"Akira… I would prefer that violence be a thing of the past."

"Says the man in the Akatsuki."

I winced a bit, she had a point, but I wasn't here by choice. "That is a different story."

"Okay, okay. So what happened to your friend?"

"He died."

"You didn't…"

"No." I shook my head calmly. "Thankfully and unfortunately."

Akira gripped my hand tighter.

"Shisui committed suicide after passing his wish and eye onto me. He fell. Right in front of me."

"I'm sorry. Would you – Should I not ask about him anymore?"

"No. It's fine."

"So what was he to you?"

"A best friend. Someone I looked up to. He was only a year older than me. About 14 when he died. He teased me and Sasuke, often helping me train him. His fiancé was less than friendly though."

"He had a fiancé at 14?" She scrunched her nose and I smiled.

"Of course, many Uchiha's had fiancés, I also had one before I was 10."

"What?" She looked horrified now.

"Yes, it was common. Sasuke too would have had one eventually."

"I can't see him liking that."

"No, he wouldn't have been fond of the idea. But he would have done it, had father asked."

The morning sun would have been peeking over the hills in Konoha now. I could almost hear the wind, and hear Shisui calling me outside. I really did miss him. Luckily his body was never recovered, who knows what Danzo would have done with it once he realized the eyes were missing.

Akira leaned over, "You look happy, when you remember him."

"I am. He made sure I never felt lonely. Many of my peers didn't relate to me, but Shisui was always there. He was annoying at first, and I wondered what was wrong with him. But he soon became my most treasured friend."

"So what happened with his fiancé? Why didn't you and her get along?"

I laughed dryly. "Apparently Shisui talked about me and Sasuke too much so one day she asked him if he loved us more than her. And he actually thought about it. He asked her to let him think about it. And as far as I know he never gave her an answer."

Akira laughed loudly, "You're kidding me. She was jealous?"

"Seems that way." I admitted. "But I believe that he loved her. He just had other things on his mind."

"You mean you."

"I don't like that smile you're giving me."

She laughed again, much quieter this time. Movement in Jitte's crib caught her attention. "Looks like somebody's waking up. I guess that means it's almost time to go."

She finished packing, turning to me again. "Turns out you're one of those late night talkers huh?"

"Don't tell anyone."

"I won't." She moved forward. "Thanks again for helping look after Jitte."

"It was no trouble. You should say bye to everyone. Deidara will miss you."

"On it." She said walking out the door. "You okay to look after Jitte?"

I nodded, walking to Jitte and rubbing his stomach. "I think I can handle him."

She left the room as Jitte yawned and smacked his lips. He gurgled some, arms in the air so I could lift him out. He really was much larger than Sasuke was. He gripped one of my fingers and that was the moment I honestly though he couldn't be anyone's but Akira's. I could feel the bone straining against his grip, the strength he held in one hand was formidable.

"Gentle." I whispered, as Akira had done yesterday. "Gentle now. Let go. That's better."

"Hey, Itachi." Kisame walked in, "How's babysitting going?"

"He broke my finger."

"He what?"

I showed him my finger and sure enough it was bent at a rather unnatural angle.

Kisame's eyes narrowed in on the kid as he kept himself near the door. "So definitely hers right?"

"Most likely." I said, though I remembered her telling me that they were not in any way related.

The moment Akira got back she apologized and helped me set it before giving me a strange sweet with an odd blue tinge. A few moments later and I felt sick to my stomach, but my finger felt much better. She apologized again as she realized that maybe the candy had been to strong, she was working out a diluted version for people with normal chakra levels but she hadn't quite got it yet.

"Are you sure?" She asked as she was escorted to the door.

"I'm sure." I reassured her for the seventh time. "I'll be fine."

"You look pale though."

Kisame barked a laugh, "He's always pale."

I would have argued but was finding it hard to balance let alone speak.

She pouted. "Well, if you're sure."

I smiled, not trusting myself to nod without landing on my face. "Be careful." I finally said.

"I will be. Don't worry." She gave me a quick hug before hugging Kisame as well. "Make sure Itachi rests okay?"

"Of course." He smiled, flashing his sharp teeth. "I'll get Pein to ease off on his orders for a while."

"Good." She nodded firmly. "Bye guys, thanks again for everything."

We waved her off until we could no longer see her. "Kisame."

"Yeah."

"I need to lay down." I said as I sank to the ground.

"Now!"

I closed my eyes, "Yes now."

"What was in those things?" Kisame muttered.

Honestly, I don't think I wanted to know.

Sai's POV

We returned to the temple, and had a meeting with Chiriku.

"I'm going to the leaf?" Sora asked.

"Yes, we have to head back to our village temporarily." Captain Yamato explained. "The way events have unfolded here; we'll need further instruction from our Hokage. Our team will most likely continue to be assigned to this incident. So what do you say? Would you be willing to help us out for a while Sora?

As you can see, it'll take time for Sai to recover. You're from the fire temple and have experience guarding the hidden tombs. So I think you'd be a more than fitting substitute for the rest of this mission."

"Ah come on," Naruto just has to butt in. "You don't have to beg the guy now do ya?"

I want to go home, I want to rest, and I want to see how Akira is doing. I need to check on Danzo and I certainly want my arm to heal faster. This was embarrassing. I was taken off a mission because I got injured. If I could move my arm I would hit myself.

Finally, it was decided that Sora would replace me on team Kakashi. The excuse was that I was injured and we needed a team member to assist us who was in on the mission. The real reason was to keep an eye on Sora and potentially protect him, if he is in fact a victim which I'm not so sure of.