A/N: I know this is late. I'm on summer vacation again. I don't have relatives clamoring to spend time with me this year, but this summer has been a real downer and I haven't felt like writing much. That, coupled with the fact that there's so much I want to say in these chapters that isn't about training. I think TTb is in danger of becoming boring, but if I just went straight to all the training with no foundation laid, it wouldn't read right. I'm doing my best. This chapter was turning too long so I'm putting the rest of it in Chapter 38.

Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie ~ Until You/Always You

Kage-Naruto, Jailbird-Sasuke ~ The Price of Salvation, Hunter/Hunted

Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto ~ I'm With Sasuke/I'm With Naruto

Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto ~ Canon/Manga

Kit, Queen-Sasuke (Queenie) ~ Irresistible

Demon, Sasuke ~ Bonded/New Bonds

*Standard line about typos applies

Chapter 37

The inhabitants of the plateau, with the exception of Queenie, displayed a disturbing lack of control while they were eating. A few fights broke out, a few Bijuu were accessed…Kushina had eaten a single piece of meat the size of her hand as she watched. She didn't comment. When she was done, she stood and that brought silence to the plateau.

Chibi-Gaara was assigned guard duty this time. Kushina told 'Bee to find alternative sleeping arrangements as she was taking over his cabin; Rasta-Sasuke and Blondie weren't there and Chibi-Gaara wouldn't be sleeping that night. She then separated Raiden and Aimi, who were in the middle of their own fight, and led them by the hands to the cabin. Demon and Sasuke followed.

-oOo-

Kushina folded herself onto the floor and made Aimi sit in front of her. Demon and Sasuke sat across from her, wondering what would happen next. Raiden took one look at what promised to be a boring evening and went back outside.

Aimi hissed as her grandmother began untangling her long hair with her fingers. "Son," Kushina said abruptly.

Demon jumped. "Huh?"

"I've seen your memories. Your past. But I haven't lived it. Now, while we have a few hours, tell me of your life."

Kushina did not particularly need this account, but she suspected her son did. During the past week she'd watched him and seen traces of the boy she'd left behind in his calm control of his body. She felt love that she didn't indulge, and remembered the kick she'd given him. A poor way to reunite with him after so long, but she'd been angry and he'd deserved it. For herself, she knew her time with him was short. She wasn't here to re-establish her life, but she would give him what comfort she could while she was there.

Demon hesitantly began speaking.

Rasta-Sasuke lit a fire. He realized the stupidity of this when he saw one of those flying creatures land near the flame. He put the fire out hastily and zapped the little shit with a bolt of lightning. It made pain flash through his body, using that small amount of chakra. The pain was gone quickly, but it made him realize that whatever he was doing when he blacked out was taking a toll on him. It felt like his chakra was being overused, or at least his body was starting to feel the way it had after he'd killed Itachi. He wasn't in anywhere near that kind of pain now, but if he used more chakra without resting it might get to that point.

He sat near Blondie's side, warming himself with his heat. He saw that Blondie blinked from time to time, so that was good. He'd given up trying to talk to him or snap him out of whatever was wrong with him. He figured Blondie had seen something that had put him in shock. Whatever was wrong, he didn't think it was physical.

Starving. The sensation made him wonder when the last time Blondie had eaten was. He wondered how long his man had been down. He stared at the twisted digits of his broken hand and dimly remembered punching at something. Had Blondie eaten some of the same plant?

He was nodding off, his head drooping, when a snapping twig brought him back to his senses. He looked around but couldn't at first see anything. Their clearing was dark. His eyes had adjusted, but it didn't mean he could see clearly.

There was breathing. Heavy, as if from a large creature, and close by. Something made Rasta-Sasuke look behind him and up…up…up to a pair of glowing yellow eyes. He saw, with mild fascination, that the eyes had another smaller set sitting beneath them. The wind shifted and he was brought an eye-watering stench that made him gag. The thing lunged.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke blinked. He was crouched back against Blondie's side, one hand up protectively in front of his face. There was no sign of the creature. A sense of fading pain left his body humming.

He got to his feet and looked around. What the hell? How could something so huge disappear in the time it took to blink? He considered the mild pain lingering in his body. No. If he'd blacked out again…

He walked carefully to where the creature had been standing. Bending to pick up a branch with his good hand, he lit it with a katon and used it as a torch. By its light he could see that the trees around where he currently stood seemed scorched. They were blackened, lifeless. Touching one, he hissed. It was hot.

A path led from those charred trees, just as dead and black. Afraid, Rasta-Sasuke followed it, holding his branch aloft. It led into the forest for perhaps a hundred yards. At the end of the path was the shape of the creature. Or what was left of it. It appeared to have suffered the same fate as the trees.

Rasta-Sasuke dropped his branch. The fire went out. He panted in the darkness, suddenly unable to breathe. "What's happening to me," he quavered.

Back at where Blondie lay, he fell to his knees and collapsed across the big teen's chest. He sobbed. It was too much. If Blondie didn't wake up to take care of them both they'd die. Or he'd end up killing them both. "Blondie, please. Please wake up soon."

Aimi was sleeping, her hair in neat braids. Kushina cradled the fat girl in her lap, tracing her black brows and round cheeks with a finger as she listened to her son speak on. He came to the time Sasuke had died and paused mid-sentence.

She saw how he looked over at the sleeping Sasuke. It still hurt her to know her son had died as he had, but she did not give in to or acknowledge the emotion. It was done. Acknowledging it now would help neither of them.

He was speaking of the part where he'd woken up to find Sasuke dead on his chest. His voice was low in the cabin, as she continued to hold her granddaughter.

"I tried to save him. In my mind. I tried to save his soul, to keep him with me." Here her son's voice caught, but held. She did not look at him, knowing that he was struggling not to cry in her presence. "I r-ran. I'd never run so hard in my life, but he didn't wait. He…I couldn't save him. He saved my life and I c-…cou-"

Kushina waited. When no more words came, she put Aimi down and went to kneel in front of her son. She rested a hand on his neck, letting him know she was there and that this time, this one time, it would be all right to let go. He leaned his head wearily on her chest. When he'd recovered somewhat, still with no tears, he resumed.

"I broke. When I saw that he'd died for me I just broke, mom. I couldn't take it. I still can't think about it. Guess I'm not as strong as you tried to make me."

Kushina rubbed the large blonde head, stroking his ponytail. She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "Son. Naruto. Look at me." She waited until he'd lifted his face to gaze into her eyes. "I know what you went through. When I learned that your father was gone, it killed me. He was my world. You and your father were everything to me." She looked away a moment. When she turned back, Demon saw that there was a suspicious wetness in her eyes. "I broke too. But I had to put the pieces together again, for your sake. I knew you'd need me. I wanted nothing more than to join Minato in death, but I couldn't. And neither can you afford to lose control like you did again, Naruto. This might not end well. In fact, I strongly suspect things will get very bad and only the strongest, the Jinchuuriki, have a chance for survival. You have two beautiful children, Naruto. They are wild yet, but I will fix that. You, however, must be strong. For everyone. Do you understand?" She gave his head a small shake.

Demon sat back and took a long look at her. He'd really had no time to process her arrival. She'd just suddenly been there, then he'd been too busy trying not to incur her wrath, and then they'd begun training. Now he looked at her and remembered when he'd been very small, how she'd make him ramen, and tell him of his father. She'd been a hard woman, but she'd loved him and she loved him still, he could see. His mother. His mother was sitting in front of him and he suddenly felt his dormant love for her swell in his chest and throat. "I've really missed you, mom."

Kushina allowed the tight hug he pulled her into, squeezing back briefly. She then left him to find sleep while she sought her grandson outside.

Raiden was trying to engage Wyatt in some sort of game, but Wyatt was conked out by the fire pit, clearly exhausted. So were the people who usually slept in the main house. That structure was gone, the people stretched out on the bare dirt. A large dome of sand covered everyone and the fire pit, lit by the fire. Before going to Raiden, Kushina elected to satisfy her curiosity about something.

-oOo-

Chibi-Gaara sat morosely some few hundred yards from the large dome he'd erected to protect the inhabitants of the plateau. Not a shred of light could be seen from inside it, so the creatures were absent. He sang, making lazy shapes in the air above his head with his remaining sand.

He felt his chakra challenged on the dome as an opening appeared in the side and Kushina walked out towards him. He watched her with a mild spark of interest, wondering what she wanted. It couldn't be to criticize his shield, since it was perfect. He ran his eyes up and down her body, liking her purposeful strides.

Kushina looked down at where he was sprawled. "Kazekage," she said.

"Hm?"

"I'd like to speak with you."

"So I gathered, since you're here." He continued to make those fanciful shapes with his sand, not looking at her now.

"I will get to the point then. During this past week, you did not seem taxed by the lesson. You were comfortable enough to sing. And now, you do not seem tired though you must be expending a good deal of chakra with this technique. Everyone else is asleep. Drained. How do you feel?"

"Fine." The voice couldn't have been more bored.

"Kazekage, why do you behave like a lackwit, when you are clearly more than that?"

Chibi-Gaara rolled to his stomach, propping his chin on a hand. "Because it's fun. Getting on people's nerves is fun. Being 'normal' is the boring-est shit ever. And I don't act like a lackwit. I just like having my fun, is all. How come you're calling me by my title all of a sudden?"

Kushina ignored his question. "I see."

Chibi-Gaara flicked her a green glance that she couldn't immediately decipher. "I think you're fun. Badass, but funny for all that. I've decided I want you to be my first."

"Excuse me?" She couldn't imagine what he was talking about. This conversation would soon be over.

"My first…person."

Kushina stared at him. When he saw that she was still in the dark, he elaborated.

"Let me see if I understand you," she said dangerously. "You are propositioning me for sex? You, a child? I could kill you," she said with mild wonder. "You practically ask for it."

He stood, and there was that serious expression on his face that she'd seen during the lesson. "Okay, one? I'm not a child. I'm nineteen. I may be short, but I'm an adult. Two, most people I meet try to kill me so that's nothing new. What, you think I have no dick?" He moved to do something to the front of his clothes, perhaps looking to show her that he wasn't a child.

Alarmed, Kushina stepped back, her voice cutting the air like a whip. "If you expose anything to me I will see that it disappears. Suggest again what you did and I will end you. Good night." She strode briskly away.

Chibi-Gaara stared after her thoughtfully. Then he grinned widely, bursting into song at the top of his lungs. "FIRST there is a mountain…"

Kakashi walked toward the modest motel his guests were staying in, went to their room, and knocked on the door. The redhead opened it. He made some insolent remark before turning away, leaving Kakashi to let himself in.

They were ranged around the sitting area, apparently content to stare at each other in silence. Kakashi cleared his throat at their expectant looks.

"I'm afraid there has been no development. I can't reach the one who would take you to your comrades. The link she left in my mind is unresponsive, leading me to believe she has been occupied this past week or that the link has been severed somehow. I will keep trying of course, but…" Kakashi shrugged delicately.

One of them, the black-haired one, said, "Why would someone leave an unresponsive link? Suppose this were the emergency you say your village is preparing for?" His voice was low, mild, but held bald disapproval that was clearly heard.

"The one who left it is a child," Kakashi answered with some embarrassment. "And I don't know if she has ever done anything like this before. You know how children are…"

"Thankfully, I don't." The dark-haired man went back to staring at a wall.

Yoruichi glanced at her companions. "Advice?" she asked.

"I say let this good man continue his efforts," Urahara said after a moment. "Captain Commander bade us not to come back without them. What else can we do?"

"What indeed," Yoruichi said. She sighed. "Very well, Kakashi. We will wait. Please keep trying."

Kakashi bowed himself out.

Raiden turned from trying to wake Wyatt up and came face to face with his grandmother. He bit back his yell of fright. "Uh-"

"Come with me," was all she said. Raiden went.

They walked a good mile from the protective dome. He saw her scan the horizon briefly, before turning to him.

"Sit," she instructed. Raiden sat. "I want an account of your abilities. Tell me everything you've done from the earliest time you can remember."

Raiden's mouth fell open. "Everything?" he said soundlessly. "But…you already-"

"Need I remind you of how I feel about repeating myself?"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No, Grandmother."

Raiden began talking, heartily wishing that he'd gone to sleep with everyone else. He didn't know why his grandmother was able to stay fresh and alert; she'd gone a week without sleep just like he had. True, he was tired, but not comatose like everyone else was. He didn't consider stopping to ask her how she did it either, since he was more afraid of her than he'd ever been of his fathers. He was surprised to find himself actually liking the woman about halfway through the week. Whenever his mind had wavered from holding that boulder, she would talk to him, encourage him. He wondered if she ever played, or smiled, or laughed…his dad had to have gotten his playful side from somewhere, right? And if it was true that this woman was the only parent he'd ever known-

"Stop. You have mentioned several times this ability to take control of someone's chakra."

Raiden hadn't even been aware of what was coming out of his mouth. "I have?"

"I truly hate it when you behave as if you are stupid when you're not. It seems to be a common practice around here. Either you become more observant, Raiden, or I will rip the living tongue from your head." Kushina's eyes blazed with brilliant fury. Her voice vibrated with it.

Raiden nodded meekly. "Okay," he said in a small voice. "I'm sorry." He would have to be at his most alert from now on.

"You first did it when you were in your papa, before you were born. When Kaito pushed him from the cliff. Correct?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then you mentioned doing it with your uncle Gaara after you'd been born. And you did it when getting your sister and Wyatt from Madara, when he was attempting to pull them into one of his dimensions. Is this all correct so far?"

Raiden thought. "Yeah."

Kushina called up her chakra and sent it into the boy's lungs. She set about systematically drying the moisture in him, watching as he began to choke. "Do it now. Take control of my chakra and reverse what I am doing. Follow it into my own body and try to imitate the jutsu."

Raiden was gasping, coughing in wracking barks. "I c-can't!"

"You countered this jutsu when we first met, albeit inexpertly. Do so now. Think, Raiden, and take control of my chakra. You must learn to fight when stressed, with calm thoughts, not only when enraged."

"But I can't br-breathe!"

"Nor will you unless you save yourself." She sat and coolly increased her jutsu.

Raiden struggled to calm his panicking mind. It was difficult. His entire body screamed for oxygen. He was receiving only enough to keep from blacking out. He closed his eyes and forced his body to be still, to subsist on the meager trickle of air entering his lungs. He searched for and found the flow of alien chakra within him and called up water chakra to match it. He melded it with his grandmother's chakra before taking control of it completely and following it back to his her body. There, he let it loose, copying her jutsu and applying it with all the strength he could muster.

If Kushina stopped breathing for even a second, she didn't show it. She severed her flow of chakra neatly and waited for Raiden to take several deep breaths. He sat up shakily.

"You took too long. Again. And be quicker this time."

Morning saw everyone still asleep. Kushina woke from her own sleep and roused them most unpleasantly via a deluge of scalding rain. She waited until they were lined up before her. Some had the audacity to yawn.

"Some of you will not benefit too greatly from my training. You are either strong enough or hopelessly weak, so I will let you train your other abilities. Shinigami, Wyatt, triplets, twins, Udon, Queenie and Hiroko. Stand there."

The individuals named stood apart.

"Kenpachi, you will choose someone from your group to begin training Wyatt in swordsmanship. Wyatt, you and Ryota will practice magic when not otherwise occupied," Kushina continued. "Lee, you will train with the others while Wyatt and Ryota practice swords and magic. When you are done with me, take them and train them as you have been doing. The same for Aimi, when I am done with her for the day. We will coordinate so that half the day your students train with me, the Shinigami or magic, and half with you."

Lee bowed in understanding, shaking with eagerness.

"All Jinchuuriki remain on the plateau. The rest of you," Kushina intoned, "Go and bring me a head."

Silence. Jailbird-Sasuke spoke up. "What head?"

"The creatures you let chase you on your first night here," Kushina said to Demon. "Each of you bring me one head. Be back well before noon, as this is only a warm-up exercise. Real training begins when you get back. Dismissed."

They each looked around at each other, some never having seen the creatures she'd spoken of. Those that had suppressed their groans and left, taking the others with them. Kushina turned to Raiden and Aimi, who were waiting expectantly with the rest of the children.

Aimi was about to ask when they would have breakfast when she heard the Hokage loud and clear in her mind through the link. She gasped, realizing that she'd forgotten all about it. She raised her hand. "Grandmother?"

Kushina listened to Aimi with a small frown. "I see. Is it the attack?"

"I don't know. I can't make out words, just the sense of him calling me. He wants me in Konoha and I think he's been calling me for awhile."

Kushina knew that Kakashi was aware of Aimi's abilities. If this was indeed the war they all waited for, she didn't want her granddaughter finding out alone and possibly getting hurt. "All right. I will send someone with you." She lifted her head and scanned who was available.

Lee was still present, changing Yo-chan's diaper and feeding him. He'd planned to catch up to the rest later.

"Lee, you and Kenpachi accompany Aimi to Konoha. Find out what the Hokage wants and come back immediately," Kushina said.

Aimi grabbed their hands and Boomed. Kushina tsk-ed when she saw that they'd taken Yo-chan with them.

Aimi made sure they came out within her Papa's house in the Uchiha compound. She jogged quickly through the village, flanked on either side by her escort, on her way to the Hokage building.

Kakashi had her admitted right away to his office. "Aimi, thank god," he said as he stood up behind his desk. "I was beginning to fear the worst."

"Hokage-sama, is it the attack? Has the war started?" Lee asked seriously.

"No," Kakashi said as he came around his desk. He crossed his arms and leaned against the edge, eyeing Kenpachi. "Actually, I'm glad you came, Captain. There are some people here from your world. That's the reason I was trying to contact Aimi."

Kenpachi regarded the shorter Hokage, each sizing the other up with one eye. "Take me to them."

Aimi was left alone in the Hokage's office as Lee said he wanted to check on Sakura-san while Kenpachi and the Hokage left to see about the new visitors. She sat on a chair in the corner and proceeded to wait.

-oOo-

The inhabitants of the motel room looked up when their door was unlocked. They beheld Kenpachi and breathed a collective sigh of relief. All except the black-haired one, who stood now and addressed the scarred captain.

"Zaraki-Taicho," Byakuya said formally. "Captain commander has put me in charge of this mess. You are to retrieve the others immediately and return with me to Soul Society."

Ah, shit, Kenpachi thought.

Lee learned that Sakura had the day off and was currently lunching with Ino. He adjusted Yo-chan on his back and went in search of her.

He saw her distinctive pink head in the back garden of a restaurant. He leapt and landed at her elbow, startling both women badly and making them spill their drinks.

"Lee!" Sakura screamed. She jumped into his arms. Lee wasted not a moment and disappeared with her to their house.

-oOo-

Sakura closed her eyes, enjoying the windy feel of Lee's Shunshin as he took them home. She had her arms around his back, so she felt the lumpy parcel he had strapped there. When they stopped and she heard him unlocking their door, she opened her eyes and came face to face with a pair of black ones looking over Lee's shoulder at her. "What-"

Lee ushered them inside, took the sling from his back and set it, and the baby it housed, on the floor near the door. The baby looked up at Sakura through a fringe of thick black hair. It did not make a sound other than to fart wetly into its diaper. An odor wafted up from the baby soon afterwards that told Sakura there had been more than air to the sound.

"Sakura," Lee said feelingly. He crushed her in a hard hug, ignoring the way she stared at the baby. "I've missed you."

Sakura turned her head to look at him and was distracted by a passionate kiss. She tried to protest, but Lee, ever forceful, slid a hand between her legs and lifted her easily to pin her against the wall. Her head fell back as desire bloomed within her, augmented by the fact that she'd missed him too. A lot. "Lee…"

"Shh. I don't know how long I can stay." He was kissing her jaw, teasing her, his hands tight on her hips as he pressed his groin to hers through their clothes.

They were both aggressive when it came to sex, but he outmatched her every time. Now, reeking of dirt and sweat, circles of exhaustion under his eyes and a new hardness to his features that hadn't been there before, Sakura wasn't quite sure how this would play out. Especially since she'd said some harsh words to him before he'd left. Either way, she knew things would get rough. She liked it rough.

He leaned back, taking her top off with a practiced move, before capturing one ripe breast in his mouth. She arched, the heat of his tongue and lips setting off an answering heat between her legs and the rest of her body. He ran his callused hands down her back, stopping at her ass to lift her higher. He murmured something unintelligible as he moved to the other breast, working to undo the button on her capris.

His fingers scraped her thighs dragging the garment down. She helped, kicking off the short pants so that she was naked in his arms, the scratchy feel of his clothing against her bare skin making her shiver. Lee braced them against the wall again and looked into her lust-clouded eyes. He sucked two fingers and lowered his hand, pressing the digits into her grasping warmth firmly.

"Ah…ai," Sakura sighed. "Yes…"

He watched her face as he moved his fingers in an exaggerated in and out maneuver, one guaranteed to make her come in short order. He pressed upward strongly, knowing precisely which spot brought her the fiercest, quickest pleasure. He felt her inner walls sucking his fingers deeper, felt her thighs tremble as that deep ache began building. Sweat appeared on her brow, her eyes fluttered open and closed and he knew, as he always did in these moments, violent pride at having the love of this forceful woman.

His hand was suddenly drenched with moisture as she came with a small cry and a spasm of her pretty face. He kept at it, moving his fingers tirelessly, adding two more fingers as she became wetter and tighter, coming again soon after the first climax. He'd enter her only after she'd come a few more times, when she was too sensitive to do anything but scream for him, when the slide of his flesh in hers would drive her wild. God, but he lived to make love to her!

Sakura tried to brace her palms against the wall behind her, tried to find some way to anchor herself. All her muscles were trembling. She came again, the feeling twisting through her sharply until she cried out, begging for Lee to stop, for him not to stop, for mercy when she didn't want any.

He had his clothes off in record time, entering her convulsing heat with a bitten off moan of pleasure. He had her standing up, too needy to bother searching for a flat surface to lay on. He just needed to have her, to feel her surrounding him with that twitching wetness, to hear and smell and taste her as he finally satisfied his own desire.

Her pink hair stuck to her sweaty face, drool gathered at the corner of her slack lips as he repeatedly slammed her down on his thick rod, making her breasts bounce enticingly. She tried to control her screams. Each time she did, he would plunge harder, snapping her control and bringing them both closer to the edge of sanity. The feel of his steely muscles beneath her palms excited her further, as it always did. She plain loved it when he overpowered her. It made her feel sexy and womanly, when she was frequently more powerful than a lot of the people around her.

She was tightening, her body stiffening as he catapulted her towards a final orgasm. Her hands clutched at him as her eyes squeezed shut. He kept the movements tight and fast now, driving single-mindedly towards his release even as he felt her body prepare for its own. When it came, it was like a bright explosion in them both; they froze for a few breathless seconds, heat pouring through them, and then they were undulating uncontrollably, riding the steep waves of pleasure, mouths open in silent screams of intense gratification.

-oOo-

Lee finally walked to the couch and fell on it, Sakura bouncing slightly on his chest. They were still joined. Lee dozed until Sakura noticed the baby sitting by the couch, still staring at them. Apparently it had crawled over. Its sling was caught on one little foot, the straps straggling across the floor where they had been dragged.

"Lee," Sakura poked him hard in the chest.

"Hmmph." He captured her hand and held it, preventing additional pokes.

"Whose baby is that?"

Lee groaned and resigned himself to having no sleep. He opened his eyes and stared at where she was looking. "That is Uchiha Yoichi." He went on to explain about everything that had taken place on the plateau. When he was done, Sakura propped her chin on his chest and regarded him with wide eyes.

"It sounds unbelievable. All those versions? Wild."

"It is."

"Kushina herself is there? Really?"

"Really. She is as amazing as I remember her being. More so."

Sakura made more exclamations about the situation before Lee silenced her. "You're right, it is amazing, but more importantly, it has made me realize just how dangerous and uncertain the future is. Sakura," he said seriously. "You know how much I love you. Stop thinking that marriage will take away your independence somehow and be my wife."

She didn't have to think about it. She'd thought of little else but their argument since he'd left. "Yes," was all she said now.

Lee grinned, pushing himself up straighter. "Yes? You mean it?"

"Mmhm." She leaned down to kiss him, quickly losing herself as his arms came around her.

They both jumped when they felt small hands touching their faces. They broke apart to find that Yo-chan had climbed onto the couch beside them. He wedged himself between their naked bodies, squirming until he was comfortable. He gave Sakura a look, accompanied by a high little growl of possessiveness. He placed his chubby little arms around Lee's neck.

Lee laughed. "I think he's jealous of you touching me."

Kakashi stood by as the argument escalated.

"It ain't about me defying the old man," Kenpachi said tightly. "It's about me helping these people. I gave my word." He hadn't and it wasn't about anything of the kind. He wasn't leaving a world with such strong people in it until he'd had his fill, plain and simple. Everyone there knew it.

"I have said it time and again," Byakuya shot back. "You are not fit to be a captain in the Gotei 13. You are too undisciplined."

"Really? Why don't we settle this with swords, see just who has more discipline?" Kenpachi unsheathed his blade. There were small gasps; it was considered a grave insult for one captain to unsheathe his blade before another outside of an attack both were facing. The deepest insult, one that could not be ignored. Byakuya was forced to respond in kind or lose face. He gripped Senbonzakura tightly, preparing to answer the challenge.

Urahara stepped calmly between them. "Why don't we take a vote? We can meet with the others on this world Kenpachi spoke of and see who is in favor of leaving and who wants to stay."

"Ridiculous," Byakuya said through admirable control. "I have my orders. A vote is unnecessary when I am leading this mission. We will meet with the others only to gather them for the return home." He looked to Kakashi, while managing to keep his attention on Zaraki and his blade.

Kakashi bowed slightly. "Of course. This way, please." They followed him out, Byakuya and Kenpachi bringing up the rear as the latter reluctantly put his sword away.

-oOo-

Aimi, who'd been amusing herself with the song she'd learned from Chibi-Gaara, stood up when they entered the office. Kenpachi went directly to her and knelt. "Listen quick and say nothing," he murmured. "When the times comes you have to refuse to take anyone back to Soul Society." Louder, so that the others in the room could hear, he said, "All right Aimi, we've kept you waiting long enough. Take us back to your parents so I can introduce them to these friends of mine." He said the word friends with a sneer over his shoulder at the people in question.

They clustered around Aimi in preparation for departure, but Kakashi said, "Aren't you forgetting someone? Where's Lee?"

There was murmuring as the others wondered who this was. Sometime later, running footsteps could be heard and Lee himself ran into the office with Sakura in tow, and Yo-chan bouncing wildly on his back.

"Hokage-sama, Sakura-san and I wished to be married at once," Lee said in a rush. Gai came thundering up behind Lee, wearing a formal green kimono. Neji and Tenten were there, running behind him, with Ino and Chouji. They declared themselves witnesses.

Kakashi, flustered with the abruptness of the occasion, nevertheless had the correct documents prepared and signed in record time. A handful of rice was thrown, IOUs written in place of gifts, and then Lee was kissing Sakura ardently to the hoots and hollers of his former team mates. Sakura was set on her heels, cheeks as pink as her hair and breathless. Yo-chan growled at her, baring tiny pointed fangs.

Lee said he was ready to leave. The Shinigami, having watched all in silence, clustered around Aimi anew. They left from the office with a loud clap of chakra and sound that blew Kakashi's papers everywhere.

In further training of their minds, Kushina took all of the Jinchuuriki to the base of the plateau.

"Today's lesson is another simple one. Look at this rock formation housing the plateau."

They looked.

"Can it be lifted?" she asked.

"Fuck to the naw," Fem-Naruto exclaimed. "This formation has to be at least four or five miles long and wide, a thousand feet high."

Kushina smiled. "Lift it."

Fem-Naruto stared blankly. Kage-Naruto rolled his shoulders, but made no move toward the formation. From down here the whole thing looked like a mountain. There were other such formations spread in the distance, but this was the largest, and Fem-Naruto's estimate of its measurements were accurate. Chibi-Gaara tugged on his lip, squinting up at the formation. "How?" he asked.

Kushina was loathe to speak to him after the insult he'd given her, but she was not petty enough to do more than narrow her eyes. She praised him by saying, "Someone with brains. The answer is: together. However long it takes, there will be no food or sleep until the task is accomplished." She turned and jumped along the face of the rock formation until she reached the plateau. She left them alone.

They looked at each other. "I hate that woman," Kage-Naruto said quietly.

"At least we can go to the bathroom this time," Psycho-Naruto whispered.

"First there is a-

"SHUT UP!" the others roared violently.

Aimi came back to the plateau and went directly to her grandmother. She, along with the other children, proceeded to watch the interaction with the reunited Shinigami.

Kenpachi looked from Yumichika, Hitsugaya, Ikkaku and Yachiru, to the people who'd come with Kuchiki Byakuya.

Yoruichi stood with Urahara, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu. They were the only ones besides herself who'd consented to enter that gateway to the Ryoka's world. Byakuya had been assigned his mission by the Captain Commander, the only captain Yamamoto felt capable of bringing Kenpachi back if he'd gone AWOL. The two groups eyed each other now.

For her part, Yoruichi guessed that all but Kenpachi were eager to get back to Soul Society. It seemed they'd been roped into some upcoming war by their inability to return home. She was as shocked as the rest when she heard Ikkaku declare that he wasn't going anywhere.

Hitsugaya was silent, frowning at the ground. "Are we to go back right now? You can open the gate to Soul Society?" If that was the case, then it was urgent he speak to Asami's father.

Urahara held up a device in his hand. "Yes, but we'll only have one shot. I can't open the gate from this side more than once, and it will only remain open a few seconds."

Byakuya caught a glance that Kenpachi threw towards the girl who'd transported them. He saw the girl give an imperceptible nod, before hearing Urahara cry out behind him. Byakuya felt suspicion settle in him as he asked what was wrong. He knew the answer before the hat-wearing man replied.

"The device is gone," Urahara said. He elaborated. "It disappeared from my hand."

Kenpachi stepped forward. "No one is going anywhere until this war is over. Then we can go back."

"Where is the device?" Byakuya asked with deadly calm. Kenpachi shrugged.

Byakuaya turned to the black-haired girl, Aimi. He was by her side in an instant, pulling her away from the group of children and the red-haired woman she stood with to search her roughly.

A sandy-haired boy leapt to her defense. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Let go of her!"

Byakuya leveled two fingers at the kid and sent him flying with a mild Kido spell. The girl twisted from his grasp, screaming in a voice that made his ears hurt, but by then he'd discerned that the device wasn't on her. "Where is it? I know you took it," he said down at her. "Give it to me now and no one gets hurt."

The kid who'd defended her earlier zoomed back on wings and delivered a kick that Byakuya blocked with the flat of his blade. The impact had the captain sliding back several feet with a surprised grunt. "Raiden," the red-haired woman said. And the kid stopped his attack, going to land near the woman and Aimi. The children had watched everything with open mouths.

Kushina took charge. "Aimi, did you take that device?"

"Yes." No hesitation, but Kushina noticed that Aimi's eyes never left Kenpachi's small black one.

"Where is it?"

Aimi retrieved something that was in pieces from thin air and held this ruin out in her palm. Urahara made a small sound of dismay as he came over and inspected it.

"I can't say your aid won't be sorely missed," Kushina said as she looked up at the Shinigami, "but I understand that your place is elsewhere. Aimi, send them back to their world."

"No." Aimi's voice shook a bit, but her face was set. She still stared at Kenpachi, seemingly taking courage from the steady look he gave her in turn.

Kushina knew of their infatuation from her son's memories. She went to stand in front of Aimi, blocking her view of the captain as she lifted the girl's chin. She met her gaze with a stern one of her own. "I don't tolerate disobedience, Aimi."

"I know, grandmother."

"If you don't mind me, there will be consequences."

Aimi nodded. Suddenly Raiden was there, standing with his sis and shouldering his grandmother's disapproval with her.

Kushina saw this and said, "Might I assume you will also refuse to send them back?"

Raiden swallowed hard, but nodded.

Curious, Kushina asked, "Why?"

"I don't want Kenpachi to go. And we need them," Aimi said in a small voice.

"And I always back up my sis," Raiden said. "She has my back on not sending Wyatt home."

"I will decide what's needed," Kushina said firmly. "Either one of you sends them home, or there will be punishment. I'm not your fathers. I'm a good deal worse."

Aimi's face crumpled. Raiden felt his former rebellion come surging back and stiffened his spine.

Kushina read the answer in their expressions. She turned to the Shinigami. "My apologies. They will be dealt with. For now, it seems you are stuck."

Kenpachi let loose a smile that was so cocksure that Yoruichi was forced to deliver a kick to his face.

Jinta watched the sandy-haired kid, Raiden, being led away with Aimi by the red-haired woman down the side of the plateau. He was interested in getting to know that kid. He looked powerful.

Shortly thereafter, Raiden and Aimi's screams could be heard.

Demon paused in trying to lift the plateau with the others.

"What is it," 'Bee asked. He was sweating as hard as the rest. He welcomed any excuse to stop their impossible task.

Demon stood where he was, listening to his son and daughter shriek. It chilled his spine, but he knew they were with his mother and that they had to have earned whatever she was doing to them. He'd seen the way she looked at them, how she'd cradled Aimi. She loved them. And his mother was right, they needed to focus on getting stronger. Deciding to leave his children in her care, he turned to the others.

"Look," he said. "I know my mom. She wouldn't have set an impossible task. She's all about giving you something you think is impossible so you can learn that it isn't. She said we have to do this together, right?"

'Bee straightened with a suppressed groan. "We have been trying together. It's ludricrous, Demon. This thing dwarfs us all. There's no way we can lift it, not even with the phenomenal strength you blonde's possess."

Demon placed a palm on the rocky side of the formation, gazing up at its summit, where the plateau was located. "No. I think she meant together, as in all of us. Bijuu included."

Chibi-Gaara whistled. "That might work. But fuck, do you realize I will have to totally release Shukaku for that?"

Demon looked down at him. "I think that's the point. Working with our Bijuu when violence isn't a factor, and getting the Bijuu to work with each other."

Kit pushed off from the wall where he'd been leaning and listening. "Okay, great. Breakthrough, congratu-fucking-lations and all that jazz, but guess what? My Bijuu doesn't work. You all talk about releasing but I don't have anything to release."

Kage-Naruto pointed at him. "Freak's got a point."

"I also have a few hundred submachine guns up in that truck for the next person who calls me a freak, freak," Kit added. "Any one of them would send you to the afterlife quite nicely."

"All right!" Demon said testily. "All right, just stop fighting. Kit, why don't you sit this one out, see if we can handle it?"

"Fine." Kit paced off some distance. He needed a cigarette in the worst way.

"All right, the rest of us, gear up," Demon said.

They backed away, giving themselves room. The Eight-Tails sprang into being with no trouble or fuss. Shukaku grew from the sand Chibi-Gaara possessed. Demon, Kage-Naruto, and Psycho-Naruto went to three tails. Then Demon and Kage-Naruto made it to seven, then eight…and finally with mutal roars that rent the air, nine tails.

It was then that they turned and saw the smaller fox, crouched and bristling: Fem-Naruto. In this state, the three foxes hunkered down, the dictates of their hosts minds too muted at first to override the towering need to mate that had them all salivating.

Then Demon got control of his Kyuubi and spoke from its mouth with difficulty. "NOT…NOW."

Control seemed to come to the rest and they stood down. Then Psycho-Naruto's transformation got away from him and all of them had their hands full with a wild Five-Tails Kyuubi.

Aimi groaned inaudibly, her face turned into the dirt, as her bones set themselves and re-knit. She heard Raiden's body undergoing the same process with loud pops and snaps of joints. He was wheezing. When they were whole, they lay prostrate at their grandmother's feet, quaking in anticipation of the next spate of blows. They didn't come.

"Will you send them back now?" Kushina asked.

Raiden and Aimi nodded weakly, utterly cowed and bent to her will.

"Good. Don't."

Raiden, being Raiden, dared to lift his head and fix her with a questioning glance. Kushina answered.

"Aimi is right, their strength is needed. If their presence will give you two the slightest edge, the merest hint of a chance for victory then they will stay. Your punishment was for defying me, something that I won't allow. I trust the lesson has been learned?"

More feeble nods. Kushina knelt before them and rested a hand each in their hair. "Don't make me have to give it again."

The day went by. The head-hunters returned with their heads before noon as instructed. Some, in fact most, were wounded. They were rewarded with food and rest. Kushina continued to train Aimi and Raiden for a time, during which Hitsugaya began teaching Wyatt the basics of sword fighting. Kushina stopped her teachings with Raiden and Aimi and Lee took over teaching all the children while Yo-chan was napping. Jinta and Ururu decided to join out of boredom. Ururu and Aimi took to each other as if related by blood. Jinta approached Raiden, who liked him immediately. Wyatt looked on jealously, earning a knock in the head from Lee, who chastised him for being inattentive.

-oOo-

Towards evening, the entire plateau rumbled. People cried out until Kushina explained the task she'd set the Jinchuuriki. The Sasukes were the first over the side, newly woken from their rest.

It was a sight to behold, seeing so many fully released Foxes, the Ox and the Raccoon. They were spaced so that the entire formation was balanced on their shoulders with an even distribution of weight.

The real surprise was seeing Kit. It had taken hours upon hours of intense mental communication between the other Foxes and the vestiges of his demon, but finally contact was made and a partial extraction accomplished. He had two tails released. The Narutos had helped him access his chakra during the first hour in order to help him withstand the Kyuubi chakra they were trying to release. That this feat had been accomplished in less than a day was testimony to just how hard the other Jinchuuriki had worked with him.

At the same time, they'd helped Psycho-Naruto begin learning to control his own Bijuu. When he asked the others how they managed, they'd each answered more or less the same.

"I gained control when Sasuke died. My love for him, after he was brought back to life, helped me control Kyuubi," Demon said.

"After I captured Sasuke and put him in jail," Kage-Naruto replied. "I knew I'd only be able to reform him with love. That was when I was able to control Kyuubi."

"I hated Sasuke till he came back to the village. I realized I loved him and he was the one who actually helped me control Kyuubi," Fem-Naruto said. "Everything kind of went from there."

Psycho-Naruto still couldn't admit what he felt for Sasuke, but the feelings and thoughts of their night together were there. He attained a shaky control of the Nine-Tail state, long enough to lift the rock formation with the others, anyway.

Kushina was impressed. "Excellent. Well done. You learned this lesson well, and quicker than I would have believed: in order to succeed, you must help each other. No fighting. No competition. Only teamwork."

They were allowed to return to normal. The formation was set down with a thunderous sound that oppressed the very bones in everyone. When the dust cleared, Yoruichi sauntered over for a closer look at one of the men.

'Bee was aware of her looking at him. He inspected her from behind his shades, running his eyes up and down her body, before turning away.

Yoruichi purred in her throat, suddenly not at all minding the fact that they were staying a while longer.

-oOo-

Byakuya had not gone down with the others. He sat in front of the Shinigami cabin, quietly seething at how he'd been roped into the same madness that had now cost the Gotei 13 three captains. He saw that the first to return from wherever the rest had disappeared to was a blonde woman he'd seen before. She smiled at him and sat a short distance away, apparently waiting for the rest to show up.

She looked nothing like Hisana, but there was a quietness, a delicacy to her manner that reminded him of his late wife. This blonde woman's figure was altogether too flamboyantly feminine to be appealing, but it tightened his skin just the same. He was by turns surprised then disgusted at himself. He was far beyond the lusts and wantonness of less disciplined men. He turned away from her friendly black eyes, remembering that she was married, or so he assumed when he'd seen some large man kissing her upon his return from the head-hunt.

-oOo-

Kushina allowed them to eat. Then she allowed them to sleep. She decided that everyone would have guard duty by turns. By this system, Wyatt became next to serve as guard through the night. He erected his shield over their area of the plateau and proceeded to ignore the way Raiden and Jinta were talking up a storm.

Before Raiden went to bed, Kushina pulled him side. Everyone else, with the exception of Wyatt, was sleeping. "Can you sense Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke," she asked without preamble.

After a moment of concentration, he nodded. "Yup."

"Bring them."

Raiden closed his eyes and made a grabbing motion in the air.

Rasta-Sasuke was sick. He coughed wetly, groaning as the spasms hurt his starving body. He was facing another night of hell with Blondie as his only company. He waited dispassionately to die.

He hadn't dared leave to find food, and nothing came his way that he had the strength to catch. He was afraid to use his chakra in any way, lest he black out and kill Blondie by mistake. He spent the long hours from the time he'd killed that thing praying desperately that another wouldn't come by.

Blondie showed no improvement. Rasta-Sasuke stayed by his side, staring at his face, too listless and dispirited to wonder anymore what was wrong. Blondie was breathing, but dead and he himself soon would be dead. It was just a matter of time.

He felt the strange sensation of being Pulled and had no energy to do anything other than raise his eyes to the bitch who'd sent him in search of Blondie when he saw himself back on the plateau. She seemed surprised to find them together.

"You found him," Kushina said to Rasta-Sasuke. "Why didn't you come back?"

Rasta-Sasuke discovered that he had energy for one thing after all. He lurched to his feet and landed a punch to Kushina's jaw with all the enraged force of his body. He then passed out at her feet.