The next chapter has finally been finished! Now we will see if Selûne does manage to save her children in time! *cue collective gasp*

*Disclaimer* I do not own Naruto. All characters, locations and groups belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I do however own the characters of Selûne, Mayu, Miyako, Maya, Takao, Nobutoshi and Ryuunosuke. I enjoy this way too much...

ShadowBloodNinja- You may be a bit disappointed in this chapter a lil, but rest assured, you will get your blood. This is dedicated to you cause you give me reason to still want to keep writing! ^_^

Enjoy the chapter. Reviews will be appreciated and rewarded with Uchiha cookies. Flamers will be cast into the deepest darkest pits of Hell and burn forever!

Tsunade hung her head over her paperwork, drunk off her ass with a large bottle of sake clutched in her hand. A seven month long state of drunkenness was really getting to her after her betrayal of her own flesh and blood, but she knew that it had been for the best. They had needed to capture Itachi in order to gain intel on the Akatsuki, but after seeing just how torn up Selûne had been over Tsunade's betrayal, she vaguely wondered if she had made a terrible mistake. She could still hear Selûne's angry voice echoing through her mind…

"I don't believe this…why, Tsunade-sensei? The Tsunade I know wouldn't do this! I hate you!"

Her chest suddenly felt extremely tight, making it hard to breathe. Tears poured down her cheeks as heavy sobs wracked her body.

"Selûne…forgive me…please forgive me…"

A knock on the door tore her from her thoughts and she straightened up in her chair. "Come -hic- in!" She winced inwardly at how bad she sounded. The door opened to reveal Jiraiya and Kakashi standing there, a concerned look on Jiraiya's face.

"Tsunade, you've really got to stop beating yourself up over this. Even Sarutobi-sensei would have probably done the same thing as you if he had been confronted with that kind of situation." The toad Sannin was trying to reassure her as best as he could, but he knew it was a lost cause. Tsunade was completely torn from what she had done. Kakashi sighed heavily and leaned against the frame of the door, his one visible eye appearing bored.

"Lady Hokage, with all due respect, you had to do what was right. Maybe she will get over it, maybe not…but if she hasn't, then we have a powerful enemy on our hands. Taking into account of her harboring a spirit bent on destroying Konoha, it's entirely possible that she just might follow her ancestor's path. The only difference is that she has the strength to do it. In fact…it's hard to imagine that such a fragile looking woman could possess such power. I'm sure you remember what she was like when she was in the academy?"

"I remember all too well…" Tsunade mused as she looked up at the ceiling. "She had just turned five years old when she started attending and she was able to graduate by the time she turned six. She and Itachi had a lot in common…the only thing different about them was that she was very weak mentally." She closed her eyes at the memory of seeing Selûne coming home with multiple bruises from being picked on at the academy when she had been younger.

Tsunade had been paying the Amakuras a visit one day when young Selûne came home from the academy completely covered in bruises and cuts. Maya had poked her head out from the kitchen to say hello to her daughter and had screamed bloody murder. When Tsunade peered around the corner to see why her friend was screaming, she nearly fainted when she saw the little Amakura. Selûne's face was covered in multiple bruises as well as her arms and legs. She sported two black eyes while her bottom lip was bust wide open, dried blood caked around the wound. There was a particularly nasty slice on her leg that was still trickling blood, the edges of the cut turning an ugly purple color. What shocked Tsunade the most was the child's throat. She had so many bruises there that just the sight of it made the Sannin think that someone at the academy had tried to choke her. Children could be so cruel nowadays…

"Selûne…hachimitsu…who did this to you?" she said, her voice soft. The little girl looked timidly up at the Sannin before looking down at her tiny toes, the only part of her that wasn't bruised or cut up. Tsunade sighed and tilted Selûne's chin up so she could look at her. "Who did this?"

Selûne bit her lip before responding. "Ch-Chiaki and Hitomi…they ganged up on me with their group. They called me a freak because of my family…Tsunade-sama, why do they call me a freak? What has my family done that is so bad!?"

Tsunade smiled sadly at the little girl. "Your family has done nothing wrong, chīsana ichi. They're just jealous because you are a beautiful little girl and when you are all grown up, you're going to be the most gorgeous woman alive. You're going to have a loving family and they will have nothing. Just believe that you are so much better than them because you are. I'm going to train you to become a powerful kunoichi when you graduate from the academy. One thing that they will never have is that none of them will be able to say they were trained by one of the three legendary Sannin. How would you like that, kiddo?"

Selûne smiled up at her, her face brightening despite the bruises. "I'd love that, Tsunade-sama!"

"Please, just call me Tsunade-sensei from now on. You're my student now," the Sannin corrected, giving the child a big smile. At that moment, Maya reappeared with some bandages. Tsunade watched as the elder Amakura healed Selûne of her more serious wounds before bandaging her up, a smile on her face. The little girl stared right back at her, her deep blue eyes sparkling with joy.

"She matured greatly after a year or so of training and afterwards, she was able to kick the asses of all her former academy bullies. Her problem was that she was too nice and extremely naïve, therefore allowing them to easily pick on her and beat her up."

"She was the sweetest little child though. Little tyke could put a genuine smile on even Orochimaru's face, and that's something," Jiraiya chuckled, remembering how the snake Sannin had actually cracked a smile when the four year old Selûne had rushed up to him with a measly wildflower and a big smile on her face. "Even at six years old, she was already surpassing her older sister. Mayu Amakura graduated the academy at age eight, became chunin at age nine and then jonin at age ten. Selûne did become a chunin at age ten and then jonin at age twelve, but you could tell just by looking at her that she was on a completely different scale than her sister. And Nobutoshi Amakura…he had potential to become a powerful shinobi like his sisters."

"The life of a shinobi is extremely dangerous, so it is expected of us to have a shorter lifespan," Kakashi interrupted, his face buried in Icha Icha.

"What should we do if Selûne has turned against us?" Tsunade asked, placing her head in her hands.

"For the moment, we probably shouldn't do anything. If she is indeed pregnant, then she should be indisposed for a while to take care of her child. We needn't worry about her for the time being. Instead we need to focus on the Akatsuki because they should be making their move soon. I believe we have at least two years before they will begin, so we will have enough time to come up with a plan." Jiraiya had made his way over to the window and leaned against it with his arm positioned over his head. He surveyed the streets with various civilians and shinobi walking around, buying groceries, chatting, having a good time. He sighed before turning around to face Tsunade. "Tsunade, let's go out for some lunch. I'm going to pull your head out of your ass so that you can finally get some work done around here."

A vein appeared on Tsunade's head, but before she could punch Jiraiya's teeth out, Kakashi interrupted once more.

"Shouldn't you be training Naruto right now, Jiraiya? Don't tell me you left him all alone wherever you two went."

Jiraiya chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Well…let's just say the little squirt needed a break, so he's relaxing in a hot spring right now."

"Bullshit! You're turning him into a miniature version of you, you old pervert!" Tsunade yelled, finally getting her punch in. Kakashi felt himself sweatdrop when he looked over to see Jiraiya on the ground, his teeth lying all around him.

Selûne sat on her bed staring emotionlessly at the empty crib. Nearly twenty hours ago, she had come back in to find the crib devoid of both Aika and Shin'ichi and she hadn't moved from her spot since. Itachi had gone to gather supplies for their mission while she sat there, telling her he would be back in an hour. The Amakura had merely nodded, her eyes never leaving the empty crib. Now…now she sat there with her fists clenched and tears running down her cheeks, her face growing increasingly warmer by the minute. How dare Sasuke kidnap her children, her defenseless children! Who knew what was happening to them right now! What if Orochimaru placed his curse mark on them!?

"Fuck this! I'm not going to sit around and let my children die!" she yelled, stomping to her dresser and pulling her ninja clothing out. During her long pregnancy, she had been wearing civilian clothing since she couldn't perform any ninja tasks in her condition. Now she was on a mission: to save her children. And she would be damned if anyone tried to get in her way! Throwing on soft black pants and a sleeveless high collared shirt, she slid her feet into her low heels and picked up Arc Asunder, the blade crackling with intense lightning. After tying her long brown hair back in a high ponytail, she strapped her weapons pouch to her thigh and made her way to the door. She had just laid her hand on the doorknob when someone on the other side turned it and opened the door right in Selûne's face.

"Ow!" she yelled as she grabbed her nose, which had started to bleed. Itachi was immediately at her side, his Akatsuki cloak wrapping around her as he held his sleeve up to her nose in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.

"Forgive me koibito, I didn't mean to hit you," he whispered. She glared up at him with a single golden eye while her body stopped the bleeding, allowing the Uchiha to wipe the excess blood away.

"I'm leaving right now to rescue our children," she said, pushing past him to leave the room, but he grabbed her arm. She turned to snap at him, but paused when she saw the blazing red of the Sharingan. Itachi's expression was furious, almost to the point that his normally pale face was flushed.

"We are going to rescue our children! Don't ever think that I would just leave my own children in that snake's clutches! I would rather die!"

Selûne stared at him with wide eyes, taking in his angry face. Itachi bit his lip hard, not wanting to imagine what might be happening to his son and daughter at the moment.

"If you go by yourself…" he began, forcing himself to calm down and speak softly. "There's a chance that Orochimaru will capture you and then use you to get to me. When I first joined the Akatsuki, Orochimaru tried to steal my body so he could obtain the Sharingan, but I stopped him and cut his hand off so that he could not perform any jutsu. If you get captured…" Itachi stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "If you get captured…there's no doubt that he will experiment on you in order to gain your power. I don't want to lose you or the children, so it's better if I come with you along with a few others. We can overpower Orochimaru and take Aika and Shin'ichi back."

His wife seemed to think about this for a moment before sighing and nodding her head. "Who will be coming with us?"

"We've already decided that Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu will be coming with us. Deidara will gain us entrance to the base by blowing up a sect-"

"No! I won't risk him accidentally blowing up Aika and Shin'ichi!" she shrieked, whacking him over the head with a rolled-up newspaper. Where she got it, he would never know and neither would the world.

"Will you shut up and let me finish!?" he yelled. Selûne immediately shut up because it was very rare that Itachi Uchiha yelled and when he did, it was best that everyone shut up and listened to what he had to say or risked being sent into the Tsukuyomi. "Before we even try to access the base, we are going to detect where Aika and Shin'ichi's chakra signatures are as well as Sasuke's. If I'm right, my foolish little brother won't let that snake anywhere near our children, so his chakra will be close to them. When we find where they are, then we will have Deidara blow up a section close to it so that we can just swoop in, grab them and get out."

"Why don't we just kill Orochimaru while we're at it? We'd be doing everyone a big ass favor…" she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. Itachi chuckled lowly at his wife's childish behavior.

"Our first priority is the safety of the children. When we get them safely out of there, then we can focus on destroying Orochimaru. As I was saying, Deidara will gain us entrance. Hidan will be our distraction and draw the enemy's attacks away from us while Kakuzu will be our backup in case one of us gets taken down, which I hope will not happen. You and I will be grabbing the children and getting them out of there."

He watched as she bit her lip, clearly thinking about the plan laid out before her. Before his very eyes, her tough façade cracked and her eyes began to mist over as she threw herself into his arms, tears running down her face. After having been a missing-nin for nearly five years, his methods of comfort had diminished to almost nothing, making it extremely awkward for him to console her. Her heavy sobs were muffled by his cloak, but he could feel her entire body shaking like a leaf.

"Why did this happen to us? Why can't life just be simple!?" she sobbed, clutching the folds of his cloak tightly in her hands. "Nothing is ever simple…I can't live without knowing that I could die any day now by Mayu's hands…I can't escape my fate…and now my children have been taken away from me! They're only four days old, Itachi! They can't survive in a harsh environment like Orochimaru's hideout!"

"Selûne, that's why we're going after them immediately! We can't waste time talking about it right now! When we get back with them, then we can talk about our life, okay?" he soothed, rubbing her back gently. He felt her almost imperceptible nod against his chest before she moved away from him, wiping at her eyes. "Let's go."

She followed him out of the hideout and into the clearing where Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu stood waiting for them. "It's about time you fucking got out here, we've been waiting forever!" Hidan said, sneering at the two. Selûne shot him an angry look one moment before she disappeared and reappeared in front of him, her hand wrapped around his throat.

"Don't test me Hidan. I'm already upset over losing my children and if you make this mission hell for me, then I will make the rest of your pathetic life hell for you!" she screamed in his face, her face bright red and flecks of spit hitting him in the face. Hidan looked like he was about to say something, but she squeezed his neck hard enough to snap it. After shaking him twice for good measure, she dropped him to the ground and stomped off. Itachi caught the smirks on both Kakuzu and Deidara's faces before the former Taki nin went to aid his mentally challenged partner and Itachi went to calm down the raging Amakura. Deidara grinned weakly when Hidan was fixed up and standing.

"Well…shall we be off un?"

Sasuke didn't know what to do! Shin'ichi and Aika wouldn't stop crying and frankly, it was getting on his nerves. He'd tried everything he could from rocking them to patting their backs to trying to put them to sleep, but nothing worked! They kept crying!

"SASUKE! SHUT THOSE CHILDREN UP BEFORE I DO IT FOR THEM!" Orochimaru yelled, his normally hissing voice shrill with anger. Sasuke growled angrily as he grabbed Shin'ichi roughly and jerked him up to his eye level, making sure to support his head. He glared at the crying baby, which only made Shin'ichi cry even more.

"Why won't you two be quiet!? I changed you so you couldn't have pooped your diaper again! What is wrong!?" he screeched, shaking the baby gently. If it was any possible, Shin'ichi's cries became louder. "Wait…when was the last time you were fed?" He put his finger into Shin'ichi's mouth and watched as the child sucked hungrily at his finger, little sniffles escaping the boy when no milk came from Sasuke's finger. "Shit…you're hungry. Your mother's not here either…maybe kidnapping you was a bad idea. I didn't mean to starve you, I'm so sorry little man," he said, cradling the sniffling child to his chest. "Maybe Kabuto can make something for you guys until your mother gets here." Sasuke placed Shin'ichi in the basket with Aika and carried them out of his room to Kabuto's lab, trying his best to block out the incessant crying from the twins. He pushed the door to Kabuto's lab open, the medic nin turning to look at the Uchiha with a surprised expression.

"Hey Sasuke, you need something?"

"Yeah…" Sasuke set the basket containing the two babies on the table and set his glare on Kabuto. "Can you make something that can substitute for food for the children until Selûne comes for them?" Kabuto stared at the Uchiha for a moment, his mouth hanging open. "Shut your mouth and tell me if you can make something!?" Sasuke was beginning to lose his patience.

"Yeah I suppose…I can make it in a few minutes," he said, turning back to his table. "Don't worry, I won't try to hurt the children, Sasuke." He tried to reassure the Uchiha when he gave him a glare. Sasuke relaxed slightly as he watched Kabuto mix together multiple ingredients to create a white liquid that strongly resembled milk. "This is pretty much breast milk from a human female. I mixed together whey and casein proteins, some essential fats, multiple vitamins and the carbohydrates that make up breast milk as well as leukocytes which makes breast milk better than that formula crap that they have in the markets. I just need to warm it up for them because the babies will not drink it cold."

Sasuke pretended like he knew what Kabuto was saying by crossing his arms and nodding his head to everything that the medic nin said. When Kabuto had heated up the milk, he poured it into glass bottles and attached baby nipples to the top so that the children could suck on them. "Sasuke, it'll probably be easier if we each took one child and fed them. I don't think you can hold both of them and feed them both at the same time."

"Yeah you're right. You take Aika and I'll take Shin'ichi," he said as he picked the baby boy up and cradled him in his arms. Kabuto handed him one of the bottles and Sasuke popped the nipple into Shin'ichi's mouth, relieved when the baby stopped crying and began sucking. "Thank Kami…" Aika had also stopped crying when Kabuto eased the bottle into her tiny mouth, sucking on the nipple. "I guess we can do this until Selûne gets here…"

"Well I hope she gets here soon cause I don't plan on doing this all the time," Kabuto grumbled, watching Aika as her eyes closed in content. Sasuke looked up at Kabuto for a moment before looking back down at Shin'ichi, the baby staring up at him as he sucked on his bottle. He couldn't help but smile down at the child, even though he was the son of his older brother. This boy and girl were the future of the Uchiha clan and when Sasuke finally got his hands on Selûne, he would create his own half of the clan through her. The perfect breeder…

Nearly three miles from Orochimaru's base, the group wanted to take a break. Everyone except Selûne…so when Deidara flopped down against a tree, all hell broke loose.

"What the HELL are you doing!?" she screamed, waving her arms wildly around her. "We can't be resting right now! We need to get there right now and save my children for fuck's sake!"

"Selûne, calm down. It's only for a few minutes," Itachi said, trying to calm his furious wife down, but she ignored him.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down, Uchiha! Go fuck yourself! How the fuck can you assholes think about fucking resting when my fucking children are being held hostage by a fucking pedophile who will probably place his shitty curse seal on MY children and plan to use their fucking bodies for his own sick pleasure!? Who fucking knows how fucked up Orochimaru is in the head!? It's bad enough that he fucking rapes little boys, but if he even THINKS about touching my son or daughter in that way, I am going to cut his fucking dick off and shove it down his throat before I cut his fucking head off and shove it up his fucking ass! AAAAAGH!" The normally calm Amakura was now ripping her hair out and screaming at the top of her lungs. "YOU HEAR ME OROCHIMARU!? I'M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU!"

The four men with her cowered away from her, hugging each other tightly as if they could protect themselves from the raging woman.

"And you fuckers say I swear too much…" Hidan whispered. The others nodded quickly, scared for their lives.

"O-okay Selûne, we'll keep going if you just calm down un," Deidara said, making his way toward the angry Amakura. Selûne watched him with angry eyes, but didn't do anything. She allowed the bomber to approach her and wrap his arms around her. "Let's go guys, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll have a happy Selûne with us again un."

Selûne disentangled herself from Deidara's grip and set off through the trees for Orochimaru's hideout, closely followed by the Akatsuki members. Itachi looked at his wife's back with sad eyes, knowing that she was going through hell right now.

'Selûne, I'm so sorry…I promise you that we will get the children back no matter what!'

When they had finally reached Orochimaru's hideout, the five shinobi hid in the trees and inspected the hideout. Selûne was beginning to get a little antsy just sitting there and tried searching for Aika and Shin'ichi's chakra signature.

'It should be somewhere in there…' She could sense Orochimaru's dark chakra in a deeper part of the hideout as well as multiple other chakra signatures that belonged to his prisoners. His chakra was with those signatures, so she could only assume he was torturing prisoners. A bright blue chakra caught her eye and she turned her head slightly to the left. 'That's Sasuke's chakra!' Kabuto's chakra was right next to him…Aika's was with Kabuto's and Shin'ichi's was with Sasuke's. 'What're they doing to them!?'

"Itachi, have Deidara place a bomb there." She pointed to the right of the entrance to the hideout along the side of the hill. "Hidan, I want you to just go right through the main entrance. Doing so will activate the alarm that Orochimaru has there and draw the enemy's attention. Kakuzu, I want you to stay with Itachi and I when we go through the entrance that Deidara will create. Itachi, I want you to follow my lead. I know where the children are."

"Right…"

Selûne turned to Deidara, nodding to him. He grinned and brandished a rather large clay bird, making it fly to the spot she had indicated. "Don't detonate it just yet Deidara. I want Hidan to go through the entrance first."

"Fine, fine! I'll go now, you stupid bitch!" A cold look from both Itachi and Selûne sent Hidan running to the entrance. As soon as his foot stepped through the archway, Selûne could sense both Orochimaru's chakra and Kabuto's chakra making their way to the entrance.

"They're coming," she said, holding her hand out to keep the others from moving. "Hold it…" The signatures came closer and closer. "Hold it…" Almost there… "Just a little more…" When the two were almost visible, she jerked her hand down. "NOW!"

While Hidan was distracting the snake and the medic, Deidara detonated his bomb and created a large hole in the ground, enough to have gone through to the hallway beneath. Selûne shot from the tree into the hole, landing in a rather dark hallway. Itachi and Kakuzu landed next to her, Deidara having gone to help Hidan. The Amakura ran down the hallway and made a sharp turn, keeping her senses tuned to the hum of Aika and Shin'ichi's chakra signatures. Only a few more feet…she made another sharp turn and ran to a door at the end of the hallway, coming to a screeching halt just outside the door. She could hear Itachi and Kakuzu's running footsteps coming near until they slowed down and stopped right behind her, their light panting reaching her ears. She stared at the door, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She couldn't sense Sasuke's chakra anywhere near Aika and Shin'ichi…it had to be a trap. Her hand reached for the doorknob…

A yell came from behind her and a sickening feeling came over her. "I see you've come for the children, Selûne…" Orochimaru's hissing voice reached her ears. She froze, her heart stopping in her chest.

'No…please don't let this plan fail…' She drew in a deep breath and threw the door open.

"Kakuzu, cover us!" Itachi yelled as he stood in the doorway to provide some measure of protection to his wife. Kakuzu turned to face Orochimaru with his threads at the ready as Selûne made her way to the basket that held Aika and Shin'ichi, her hands shaking. She moved the blanket away from the babies to reveal…dolls. Dolls…?

"They're not here…" she whispered, her heart dropping. She gripped the sides of the basket tightly before ripping it cleanly in two, a vein popping on her head.

"Selûne!" Itachi and Kakuzu called to her, Itachi's voice sounding slightly panicky. She turned and ran out of the room to see what was wrong. When she saw the dark form of the snake Sannin, she froze. In the man's arms was Shin'ichi, sleeping peacefully!

"You bastard! You let my son go right now!" she screamed, rushing past Itachi and Kakuzu and jumping at Orochimaru. With one snake arm, Orochimaru slammed the Amakura into the wall, wrapping his arm tightly around her throat.

"Hmmm…it seems you've gotten weaker, little Selûne. Tell me…what is it you fear the most?" Orochimaru chuckled darkly as he brought his face closer to the sleeping Shin'ichi.

"Don't…you…fucking touch him!" she growled, struggling mightily against his grip, but he held firm. He smiled evilly at her and then his face shot forward into Shin'ichi's neck, his fangs sinking deep into the soft flesh.

The baby woke with a loud cry, the sound tearing Selûne up as she struggled more against Orochimaru. Everything seemed to blur out…she couldn't hear Itachi's angry yells or her own shout of anger, only the agonized cries of her son. Red clouded her vision when the snake retracted his fangs and his curse seal appeared on the baby's tiny shoulder, the tomoe shaped marks dark against the pink skin.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Her scream of horror echoed throughout the hideout, but she was oblivious to it. A strange feeling was spreading throughout her body, a hot feeling like lava had replaced the blood in her veins. Her head began to pound and her stomach began to burn as the seal there began to unravel, loosening the bonds that kept Miyako sealed.

'Yes…feel the anger flowing through you, Selûne. It feels good, doesn't it? If you want to save your son, release me. Release me and I will aid you!'

Selûne stood before the gate that housed Miyako, her head bowed and her fists clenched tightly enough to draw blood. She lifted her head to reveal blood-red eyes, staring right into Miyako's similar red eyes. The elder Amakura smirked, already knowing what Selûne had decided. She stepped away from the gate as Selûne made hand signs.

"KAI!"

The seal disappeared and the gate flew open.

Selûne screamed at the sudden rush of evil chakra that overcame her, her hand coming up to grip Orochimaru's snake arm. Her eyes shot open to reveal blood-red eyes, staring straight into Orochimaru's golden eyes. The murderous intent in those eyes unnerved even the Sannin and he took an involuntary step back.

"I'm going to kill you!" she growled in a harsh voice, the tattoos on her face slowly expanding and becoming more jagged by the second. Her fingernails grew in length until they pierced through the snake that made up his arm, causing Orochimaru to release her. A black chakra surrounded the Amakura, her form rapidly beginning to change. She gripped her head tightly and threw her body back, screaming loudly as the chakra engulfed her and began to take shape. Orochimaru was so frightened that he didn't even notice when Itachi snatched Shin'ichi away from him and ran away with Kakuzu, leaving the Sannin to his untimely death.

On the other side of the base, Sasuke held the crying Aika in his arms as he ran out of the hideout, having sensed an extremely powerful chakra nearby that exuded a horrendous killing intent. He didn't expect to run into the members of Akatsuki however…including his older brother who carried his newborn son in his arms. Sasuke was about to say something when the base literally exploded! He shielded Aika from the blast and breathed a sigh of relief when Itachi did the same with Shin'ichi. He heard a yell from above and looked up just as Orochimaru faceplanted into the ground about a few feet away, his clothes burning. The dark chakra from behind chilled Sasuke to the bone as he turned his head and froze at what he saw.

A giant humanoid figure rose from the rubble of the hideout, made up completely of black chakra. The red eyes and mouth with jagged black teeth made Sasuke want to wet himself, but he steeled himself. The thing had to be at least a hundred feet tall!

"OROCHIMARU!" it screeched, reaching out for the snake Sannin and plucking him up in its sharp claws. The scream that Orochimaru let out would have made an opera singer proud. Before Sasuke's very eyes, the thing slammed Orochimaru down into the ground, creating a deep crater in the earth. The Uchiha activated his Sharingan and looked more closely at the figure, trying to pierce through the chakra shroud. In the chest of the creature was Selûne, controlling every single one of the creature's movements. He was so shocked that he didn't even notice when Itachi came up behind him, only jerking back to reality when his brother's hand came down on his shoulder.

"Sasuke, it's best that you leave Orochimaru. In the state that Selûne is in, there's no doubt in my mind that she will kill him mercilessly."

"But why…?" Sasuke said, looking down at the crying Aika in his arms. "He wasn't the one who took the children and I made sure that he got nowhere near them…"

"That's where you're wrong." Itachi's voice was now extremely cold as well as furious. "Selûne was convinced that they were in a certain room, but when she got there, they weren't there. Orochimaru had Shin'ichi and he…he placed his curse seal on my son."

Cold dread washed over Sasuke as he turned his head slowly, meeting Itachi's Sharingan eyes momentarily before looking down at the wailing Shin'ichi in his arms. Sure enough, the black markings of the curse seal stood out from the pink skin.

"Selûne has managed to break the seal keeping Miyako at bay and is now completely consumed by her," Itachi explained. "I imagine only the death of Orochimaru will calm her down."

Sasuke turned back to the spectacle, seeing Selûne pick Orochimaru up in her monstrous claws. He could hear the snake Sannin's sobs for mercy as she took his arms in one hand and his legs in the other, leaving him stretched out for everyone to see.

"Please! Don't kill me! I'll remove the curse seal from your son if you let me live!" Orochimaru had disintegrated from the cocky man that he was to a blubbering baby, begging with the Amakura to spare his life. The creature's expression became even angrier, hellfire burning from its eyes.

"OROCHIMARU," its voice boomed, sounding scratchy and harsh. "NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU BEG TO BE SPARED, IT WILL NOT BE GRANTED. YOUR LIFE WILL SERVE AS PUNISHMENT FOR HARMING MY CHILDREN! NOW BURN FOREVER IN THE DEEPEST DARKEST PITS OF HELL!"

With those words the creature yanked its hands apart and with it, Orochimaru's body. Everyone turned away from the sickening sight, Itachi and Sasuke shielding the children from the blood that rained down upon them. The creature/Selûne threw the two halves of Orochimaru's body down to the ground and stomped on them, completely crushing the body of the Sannin into a pulpy mess. It/she let out an ear-splitting roar, the men below her covering their ears while Itachi and Sasuke put a silencing jutsu over the children to protect their hearing. In the middle of her yell, she stopped abruptly. When Sasuke looked up to see what was wrong, the creature gripped its head tightly as if it were in pain. It began to shrink slowly, the black chakra dissipating to reveal Selûne more clearly. She hovered over them about twenty feet in the air, looking down at her wailing son with heartbreaking eyes. It was then that Sasuke saw it: a bloody tear crept down her cheek, staining her skin with its bright red color.

"Shin'ichi…" Her voice broke as she slowly floated down to the ground, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she fell to her knees. Itachi ran to her side, putting one arm under her shoulder and keeping her upright. She didn't seem to notice him; instead her bloody eyes were focused on her crying son. "Shin'ichi…" she repeated, reaching out and taking him from his father. Her features softened as she held her son in her arms, stroking his cheek and whispering to him. "Watashi no musuko…aishiteru…" She looked down at the curse mark on his shoulder, feeling despair wash over her as more bloody tears slid down her cheeks to fall onto Shin'ichi's blanket. "I should have come sooner…" she whispered, clutching him to her chest. "I'm so sorry…please forgive me, my baby."

The five men watched with sadness in their hearts. Deidara looked like he was about to cry, Hidan was already crying and even Kakuzu's eyes looked misty. Itachi had rested his head on her shoulder and looked down at his son with her, also looking like he was about to cry. Sasuke still held Aika, who had stopped crying and had decided that now was a good time to go to sleep.

"I probably shouldn't have killed him…" Selûne's voice reached his ears, prompting him to look up at her. "Orochimaru is probably the only one who knows how to remove the curse mark…and trying to find out how to remove it will take time."

"It won't kill Shin'ichi," Sasuke said, feeling just a little bit sorry for his brother who truly looked pathetic right now. "If you can use the seal that Kakashi used on me to control my curse mark, then you will be okay."

Selûne was silent as she contemplated her choices. Finally she sighed, pressing her lips to her son's forehead and leaving a bloody kiss there. "I'll wait until you're a little older, Shin'ichi. Rest assured, I will find a way to remove the curse…" Shin'ichi's cries softened as he opened his teary eyes to look up at his mother, who smiled down at him. "Watashi wa itsumo anata o mamorimasu…"

Selûne blinked. For some reason she could no longer see her son's face, but his entire chakra network instead. She tilted her head slightly so that she could see Itachi's knee and saw that she could only see a faint outline of his body, but a clear visual of his chakra network. 'What is going on?'

"Well, we managed to rescue the children AND kill Orochimaru at the same time! I say we fucking celebrate!" Hidan yelled, turning to leave. Deidara and Kakuzu turned as well, but Deidara stopped and turned back to the Uchihas. "Hey Uchiha, you think you guys can get back alright un?"

"Yeah…just give us a few minutes," Itachi said, waving the bomber off. There was a grunt from Deidara as acknowledgement and the three Akatsuki members took off into the forest, leaving the three Uchihas alone. Sasuke cleared his throat, causing his older brother to look up at him.

"Um…I think I should probably go…" the younger Uchiha stammered, walking forward and handing Aika to Itachi. "I'm so sorry about this. I should have protected them better."

"It's fine Sasuke." Itachi almost sounded like the kind older brother from the past now, dismissing his brother as if he had done something not worth getting mad over. Sasuke turned to Selûne, who knelt on the ground staring at Itachi's knee. Or looked like she was…

"Selûne?" She made a soft sound, indicating that she was listening to him. "I'm sorry for what happened…I didn't mean for him to get his filthy hands on them." She sighed and nodded, her body slumping slightly from exhaustion. "Well…I guess I should probably go-"

"Sasuke…" Her voice was so soft that he almost didn't catch it. He stopped himself from taking a step away and looked back at her, dreading what she might say. Her head remained bowed for a moment longer before she finally lifted her head to look up at him. What caught him off guard were her eyes…they were no longer blue. They were a deep golden color with multiple rings creating a ripple pattern that spread over the eyeballs. "Thank you for at least trying to protect them," she said, keeping her eyes on him.

"Y-yeah…sure…" he said, turning on his heel and disappearing into the forest. Itachi watched him go for a moment before looking back down at her.

"Sasuke seemed spooked by you, koibito…what's going on?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face. "Can I see your beautiful fa-"

She turned her head to look at him, his question dying on his lips. The reason why Sasuke had been shocked when she looked at him was staring him right in the eyes. Deep golden eyes stared back at him with multiple rings creating a ripple pattern spreading all over her eyeballs.

Selûne had awakened her Rinnegan.

The two things that Selûne says to Shin'ichi are in order:

"Watashi no musuko...aishiteru..." - "My son...I love you..."

"Watashi wa itsumo anata o mamorimasu..." - "I will always protect you..."