A/N: Mostly Blondie in this. Apologies.

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

Kage-Gaara ~ Bonded/New Bonds

Chibi-Gaara ~ Until You/Always You

*Standard line about typos applies

Chapter 38

He felt wonderful. Nothing hurt anymore. He was still hungry as shit, but his body felt fine and light. Almost as if he was floating. He felt warm hands on him, putting more of the wonderful floaty feeling inside him, and then he heard speaking.

"Good job, Wyatt. Is he still unconscious?"

"No, it's more like he's sleeping."

"He is completely healed?"

"Yeah. He had a respiratory infection and the broken hand, but he's good now."

"Excellent. Come and see about Blondie. Can you find anything wrong with him?"

"No, I already tried. He's fine."

"He is not fine." There was a sigh. "All right. Go and bring Chibi-Gaara and Killerbee. They know him, maybe they can enlighten me as to his condition."

"Okay. Do you want me to heal that bruise on your jaw first, Miss Kushina?"

"No, thank you. Just bring them quickly. And bring Aimi while you're at it, I want to see this boy's past."

The sound of retreating footsteps, a door closing. He heard the bitch -Kushina was her name?- murmuring to Blondie. Sometime later quick, heavy footsteps were heard and then the quiet was disrupted by Chibi-Gaara's feverish whispering and 'Bee's low rumble of a voice.

"Blondie! Oh god, what happened to him?" Chibi-Gaara sounded distraught.

"We don't know," Kushina said. "Wyatt can find nothing physically wrong with him. Have either of you ever seen him like this?"

There was silence, during which Rasta-Sasuke felt himself drifting comfortably toward the oblivion of deep sleep. He was roused to his former state of half wakefulness again when 'Bee spoke.

"Once. It was when he thought that one there had died. Rasta-Sasuke had disappeared from the face of the earth. We couldn't find him. Blondie was…I don't know what to call it. I guess he was grieving. He didn't speak or eat unless we forced him to. He just sat staring at nothing. It lasted weeks."

"This looks worse than that sounds," Kushina fretted. "We've already tried to feed him with no response. Aimi."

"Yes, Grandmother?"

"Take me into his timeline, let me see what happened to him."

There was silence again. This time Rasta-Sasuke fell completely into the waiting arms of sleep and let it carry him away.

Inside the Corridor, Kushina turned immediately to look at the ceiling, expecting to see the river of moving images. The river was there, but it wasn't moving. Aimi, at her side, frowned up at it.

"What's wrong," Kushina asked.

Aimi encountered resistance in Blondie's timeline. She struggled against it, looking for a workaround. When she found one, the river began flowing and they stood looking up, watching closely.

Kushina was horrified. It was worse than anything she could have imagined, how this version of her son had been treated. She felt rage, violence and her chakra swell in a devastating tide within her, and she knew that she would do all in her power to help this boy. This poor lost boy who thought Rasta-Sasuke was the only salvation or love to be had.

"Stop," she said to Aimi.

Aimi stopped the flow, scared to see her unshakeable grandmother quietly crying. She saw how her grandmother frowned over the tears, but made no move to brush them away.

"Move forward until just before my arrival. Let the images pass slowly," Kushina instructed.

Understanding Blondie as she now did, Kushina thought she knew what had happened. Rasta-Sasuke. He had rejected Blondie, rejected the most importing thing to him, the most important request. His only request.

Rasta-Sasuke had broken her son. Completely. His will to live was gone, his mind and body shut down.

Kushina was not aware of when she began considering Blondie her son, she only knew that what fragile acceptance and sense of self-worth he'd had with that dread-wearing bastard had been hurt too badly for him to recover on his own. Her entire body ached at how he'd been hurt, at the need to lash out.

She controlled herself. "I'm done here, Aimi. Take us out, please."

Aimi obeyed, stepping out of the timeline with her grandmother and into the cabin they were using. It was Blondie's cabin, along with the people he'd come with. He and Rasta-Sasuke were laid out on the floor. Demon, Sasuke and Raiden were sleeping outside with the others.

Kushina sat at Blondie's head, cradling it in her lap and smoothing the spiky hair. Her tears fell on his face unheeded as she thought.

She'd planned to train them a little longer before summoning the next person, but everyone was doing well, better than she'd expected. She would cut her month of conditioning short and summon the rest of the teachers now. They needed specialized instruction and this boy in her lap needed her. "Aimi," she said now. "You will need to bring a few others tonight. First you will bring…"

Aimi listened, nodded, and turned to leave, but Kushina halted her.

"Bring me Uchiha Hiroko before any of them, though. And Kaze-Gaara. I fear by the time you bring the others it may be too late. It might already be too late."

Aimi ran to get her aunt and uncle.

-oOo-

'Bee stared at Blondie where he lay as they waited for Aimi to get back. He bled for him, he really did. He wished he'd never let him leave the cottage to go wait for Rasta-Sasuke to return. He wished he'd been able to make the young man love him. He knew he would have been able to help him, to heal his scars and make him laugh.

Blondie's laugh. It was a rare sound, one that only Chibi-Gaara could evoke. They'd been like a family in that valley, getting along so well it was as if they'd been meant to be together. He'd never stopped loving the boy, 'Bee thought sadly.

"Should I sing to him?" Chibi-Gaara said tearfully to the room.

Kushina nodded after a moment. The soft strains, sung well, further surprised her about the small Kazekage, but she made no comment. She and Chibi-Gaara stroked Blondie and waited for the others to show up.

Aimi stepped around sleeping bodies until she found her uncles curled around each other. She nudged and prodded until Uncle Gaara woke up. She told him that he was wanted by her grandmother. He got up to leave, and she went to her cousin Hiroko's cabin.

Konohamaru's arms were strong around her. The hard muscles of his body dug deliciously into her soft flesh; his biceps, his thighs, his chest. He was so hot as he wrapped himself around her softness. His cock was likewise hot as it slid in and out of her with increasing speed, making her bite her lip to keep quiet. The cabin was dark, making everything she felt more intense. He grabbed Konohamaru's long hair in her hand and arched into him as she came hard, his body holding her pinned beneath him as he waited for her to finish before he began thrusting again.

The knock was an unwelcome intrusion. It was insistent, though. Konohamaru lifted his face from her neck, still pulsing inside her. "Who is it?"

"It's Aimi. My grandmother wants Hiroko. She said to come quickly, it's about Blondie." The girl's voice was somewhat muted from traveling through the muffling barrier of the cabin door.

"I better go," Hiroko sighed. Konohamaru nodded, kissed her lips, and slipped out of her.

"Hurry back," he said with a caress of her hip. "I'm not done yet."

"You're never done," she giggled as she located her clothes.

Kaze-Gaara arrived at the appointed cabin and entered after a discreet knock. He felt himself bristle at finding Chibi-Gaara there, then felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at hearing him sing. He stood stiffly just inside the door until Kushina told Chibi-Gaara to stop and looked up at him.

"Kaze-Gaara, I need your help. I've made a general assessment of what's wrong with him, but I think you can do a better job." She then turned to Aimi, who was just coming in the door and told her to show him Blondie's timeline. Aimi took his hand and led him to the big teen stretched out on the floor.

Kaze-Gaara had been curious to meet this particular Naruto. He knelt at Blondie's side now, wondering what had happened and how he could help.

The Corridor, its river of images, and Blondie's life fascinated him. He looked, saw, went back and studied certain scenes, key occurrences in Blondie's life, and then told Aimi he was done.

-oOo-

Kushina waited for Kaze-Gaara to speak when he and her granddaughter appeared. She noted that Aimi was yawning as her eyes returned to blue, but there would be no sleep for the girl this night. "Well?" she asked Kaze-Gaara.

Hiroko walked in as he answered. "He's depressed."

Kushina, Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee answered in one shocked voice. "Depressed?"

Kaze-Gaara went on to explain. "He's suffered a psychotic break. This can be manifested in a variety of ways, depending on what caused it and the individual. The break was violent…I trust you saw the images where he lashed out with all his chakra? That was the start. He's having a major depressive episode now with the catatonia being the result. Catatonia itself has variations. This particular subtype is called a stupor. It is usually treated with medication."

"We have none," Kushina said tightly. "Am I right in thinking his depression was caused by Rasta-Sasuke refusing to give him children?"

"Partly," Kaze-Gaara said as he continued to look at Blondie's face. "What it boils down to is having put all of his capacity to love in one person and then having that person hurt him. I don't think he's ever risked his emotions before. The damage done by the rejection is severe, obviously, but part of this reaction is just the way Blondie is. He's been walling himself off since early childhood. This current state he's in is sort of an extension of that."

"What can we do?" Kushina asked. She was calm, in control of herself, but her voice held a strain of agonized impotency; her child was hurting, she felt compelled to help him.

"Well, you seem to have something in mind?" Kaze-Gaara said as he glanced at Hiroko.

Kushina nodded. "Yes. I thought to have Aimi summon my husband and then let Hiroko guide us into his mind. I thought perhaps we could reach him that way."

"The Fourth Hokage?" Kaze-Gaara breathed.

"I'd planned to bring him anyway, to train the Narutos," Kushina said quietly. "But now I think he's needed sooner. Do you think it will work?"

Kaze-Gaara thought for a few moments. "That would depend on what you found in his mind. The only person he ever let in hurt him. I don't guess he'd let anyone else in. He's protecting himself."

"Will he come out of it on his own?" 'Bee asked.

Kaze-Gaara turned to him. "Probably. However, he's likely undergoing a radical change as we speak. I don't think the person who comes out of this will be anything like the Blondie you remember. I'm sorry, but we are not dealing with a normal person, with normal reactions, if what I saw in the images is true. He might come out of this a psychopath or worse. "

"Worse?" Chibi-Gaara squeaked. Then he threw a venomous look at where Rasta-Sasuke was sleeping. "Can he help him?"

Kaze-Gaara shook his head. "I don't know. I don't advise him making contact with Blondie until we know what we're dealing with."

"What do you advise then?" Kushina said.

"Go with your plan. See if you can find the original Blondie in his mind, the one his disconnected attitude is always protecting."

Kushina nodded at where Aimi stood waiting. Aimi transformed and disappeared into Kushina's timeline with a sucking sound.

-oOo-

They waited. Hiroko, having listened to the conversations around her, had a pretty good idea of what would be expected of her. She had never plumbed the depths of one's psyche without applying Genjutsu. If her Uncle Gaara was right and there were barriers in place, things could get dicey. She stood where she was, hugging her elbows, as she began devising strategies.

Aimi let the images flow until she saw her grandmother, looking younger and very weak, being brought by a blonde man to a blonde baby. The blonde man was just handing the baby to her grandmother, saying he was going after the Nine-Tails, when Aimi stepped into the image and made her presence known.

Minato turned at seeing her. He stood up, putting himself between his wife and son. The hand seals he performed were blinding, yet the girl did something too fast for him to see. He found himself in a yellow hallway, with strange pictures above him. There was Kushina and their new baby. They appeared frozen as he'd left him.

"Who are you?" he asked, aware that the girl only stood and stared at him with wide yellow eyes.

"Uzumaki Aimi."

"The Uzumaki clan is no more. My wife is the last." But he was inclined to believe her. This had to be some kind of Fuuinjutsu, a specialty of the Uzumaki clan. "Where am I?"

"In Uzumaki Kushina's personal timeline. Please," Aimi said as she pointed at the ceiling. She let the images begin flowing.

-oOo-

Minato saw that Kushina had survived the sealing process at a cost to her health. She'd raised their son (how beautiful he was!) until she could hold off from death no longer.

The images stopped. He turned to the girl, but the girl was taking his hand and then they were outside somewhere, at night, among many sleeping bodies. She led him between them until she selected a large male with blonde hair…

Minato gasped. He had no idea where he was, what was going on, but that hair, those whiskers-

They were in another yellow corridor. This time the girl, Aimi, let the images flow from a scene in a graveyard, where Naruto looked to be the same age as when Kushina died. He saw a black-haired boy, Uchiha Sasuke (he'd seen him befriend his son in his wife's memories), comfort him. The images played from there.

He saw Raiden born and then, apparently a few years later, the girl beside him. His eyes were wide as he looked from the fat baby to the fat girl. He turned quickly back to the images, not wanting to miss anything.

When he saw that Sasuke had brought his son back from the dead, he knew he owed the Uchiha family a great debt. He saw himself in Naruto's mind, understood what had happened and then he was watching his grandchildren grow, seeing a lot of himself and Kushina in them…and then Madara. Madara, who'd had Naruto in his clutches as a baby. He didn't see him in these memories accept briefly before Naruto had died, but he had an account from Raiden to look at and then the reason for where he was and why was made known.

But no. There were other versions of his son here, one called Blondie who needed help. The images stopped and Minato sagged, drained from processing so much information. He sat down in the corridor and heard the girl do the same. She yawned behind her hand as she walked on her knees to sit beside him.

A thought occurred to him. "The Nine-Tails will destroy the village if I'm not there to stop it."

"When I return you, I will return you to that moment. It will be like you never left." Aimi yawned again.

Minato nodded. "Yosh. Let's go."

-oOo-

They exited onto the plateau, and this time Minato understood what he was seeing. He saw the dome of magic above him and the boy maintaining it. Sure enough, he found the form of his grandson sleeping not far away from the child he now knew was called Wyatt. He wanted to go to him, look at him, but Aimi tugged his hand and led him to a cabin.

He was stared at when he entered, but he had eyes only for his wife. He'd just left her side, yet he felt as if years had passed; he'd seen the thirteen years she'd spent raising Naruto and then the rest of Naruto's life, yet here she sat, healthy and strong, cradling the head of Blondie. She got up and came to him.

The inhabitants of the cabin watched them embrace as if they'd never seen such a thing. The Fourth was among them, right there in the cabin. They looked at him in wonder, silently, awestruck. There wasn't a person present who didn't know tales of his heroic deeds.

The reunited couple spent some long moments murmuring quietly to each other. Kushina tamped the painful urge to cling to Minato down fiercely as she leaned back in his arms and looked at him.

He was the same as the last time she'd seen him. The exact same, down to the clothes he was wearing. Her heart missed several beats…how she'd missed him and needed him during those years she'd been raising their son!

But she'd survived without him. And now Blondie needed them.

She gave an account of the boy's life as she led Minato to his side. They knelt and Kaze-Gaara added his unprofessional assessment to her words, rounding out the picture for him. "Help me," she said. "Help me save him, Minato. I can't stand the thought of him hurting another second."

He nodded, patting her arm. "Of course."

The other occupants of the room were discomfited to see this soft, concerned side of her. They were used to Kushina's unyielding attitude towards everything. The fact that she displayed such human attributes made them feel as if they were witnessing something personal and private.

Hiroko stepped forward. Minato knew who she was, thanks to the memories. He couldn't get over how the Uchiha clan had been massacred, but it shouldn't have surprised him. His own wife's clan had been done away with as well.

"I'll be leading this mission into Blondie's mind," Hiroko said softly. Her voice was somber, in deference to the melancholy atmosphere of the cabin. "Please don't do, say, or attempt to touch anything in there unless I say so. I don't know what we'll find, but I can say this: people who are as quiet and controlled as Blondie is are that way because they internalize everything. The environment of his mind is probably extremely hostile. We must be careful and you must do as I say."

Kushina and Minato nodded.

"All right," Hiroko said. "We will be looking for the original Blondie. He will probably take the form of a small child, the age at which children become aware of themselves as part of the larger picture around them. This is when they learn that the world is not there to serve them, but that they are a small part of the world. It is usually the time when they receive much love and support from whomever is raising them, generally their parents. This is when they learn their worth.

"If I understand correctly, Blondie never had that, so he locked away his true self and went through life in this disconnected form. I think the only one to know his original self is Rasta-Sasuke and he may have damaged Blondie's unprotected self, from what Uncle Gaara said."

Said uncle was impressed. He knew Hiroko, as such an expert with Genjutsu, had studied psychology from his scrolls and texts, but he'd had no idea how proficient she could be with it. It was a pity she didn't apply the knowledge to other areas of her life or she might not have run afoul of Kabuto.

"Take my hands, please," Hiroko said as she held her hands out to Kushina and Minato. "Here we go."

Psycho-Sasuke sat with his knees drawn up, his arms draped loosely over them, as he stared at Psycho-Naruto pretending to sleep.

Everything in his life, without exception, had been a lie of one form or another. There had never been anything real. His clan had been trying to stage a coup. His brother had really loved him. Orochimaru had never intended to let him go after Itachi, and Madara had likely only been using him.

And here, more lies. The Itachi here wasn't really his brother. He knew he would never be allowed to stay with him, and Konoha would probably never accept him back as a citizen.

No, the only real thing in his life, ever, had been Naruto. Him with his loud mouth and stupid ways, and ruthless, relentless pursuit. Naruto was the only one who never lied to him, the only one who never changed…the only one he'd never lost.

And that night a week ago had been fraught with the clarified truth of their relationship.

Psycho-Sasuke relived that night daily, hourly. The feel of Naruto's skin had been…indescribable. He'd never touched anyone like that, had never known the feel of areas normally covered with clothing could elicit such a riot of eagerness in him. It had felt specifically forbidden, the things he'd done, and Naruto's resistance of him had excited him…then it had scared him.

He couldn't tolerate Naruto rejecting him. Not Naruto. Not ever. Never from him…he was the only constant, the bar by which he measured everything else in his life. If even Naruto left him…

But he hadn't. He'd conceded in the end, and Sasuke had never known victory as he had when he'd been able to make Naruto enjoy his touches.

The night after the week-long lesson he'd wanted to touch Naruto again, but he and the blonde had fallen asleep immediately after eating. Today there had been no opportunity to even look at each other, and now…now they were alone and the blonde was pretending.

Talk or touch? Sasuke wondered. He felt they needed to talk about what they'd done –had he really done that to Naruto? How?- but he also wanted, needed, to lose his mind to Naruto's body again. And currently the one was outweighing the other. He dropped his hands in preparation to standing up.

Naruto was on his feet instantly, a kunai held defensively in front of him. The look on his face as he braced his back against the wall could only be described as terrorized. He didn't even give Sasuke a chance to speak.

"Stay away from me," he said in a firm voice. "I mean it, Sasuke."

Psycho-Sasuke only stood and continued to walk toward him, moving slowly, deliberately.

"I mean it, Sasuke. Don't come any closer." Wind chakra sprang up around the kunai. Sasuke looked at this, but was unconcerned. "Damn it, Sasuke, I said-"

But Sasuke had reached him. He leaned a palm on the wall by the blonde head, leaned forward until his mouth was by Naruto's ear. He said nothing at first, enjoying the way Naruto's body trembled against his. His other hand ran down Naruto's arm until it reached his wrist…then the fist around the kunai. He gently pried the fingers open and the kunai was given to him.

-oOo-

Naruto could only hear the way his heart thundered madly in his chest. Blood pounded in his head, making a sound in his ears like a low-key drum. Sasuke's chest was barely touching his own. His smell was all around him and Naruto's eyes were hot with unshed tears. His nostrils flared in an effort to hold them back.

Sasuke's mouth drifted closer to the shell of his ear, his black hair tickling Naruto's face. "I want you, Dobe. Right now."

Naruto's eyes closed and the tears were pushed over his lids to run silently down his face. A shaky breath escaped him. His head went back against the wall as Sasuke's lips touched his ear. They touched and touched and then they drew Naruto's ear lobe into Sasuke's mouth and bathed the morsel of flesh in wet heat. Through the constriction of his throat, Naruto whispered, "Please don't. Not again. Please."

"You liked it," Sasuke hissed.

My body liked it, Naruto wanted to scream. I hated it! But Sasuke's mouth was moving across his jaw, making its way inevitably to his lips. Sasuke licked the salty tears away, licked until Naruto felt his dick warming and hardening in his pants. He tried to resist the hand that pulled his head down, wanting to lose himself in contemplation of the ceiling and ignore what was happening, but Sasuke kept tugging. Then he was kissing him and Naruto was lost.

"Oh, Sasuke," he sighed. How was it that he wanted the Uchiha to end his misery while he was the one responsible for it?

Sasuke guided them to the floor.

A discussion was taking place in the Shinigami cabin, now very crowded with the new arrivals.

"Zaraki, it is incumbent on you to order your lieutenant back to Soul Society with the rest of us," Byakuya was saying. "It is unthinkable that he should remain here for some girl. He has duties that cannot be ignored, nor does he belong here."

Ikkaku kept silent, as he was supposed to do in the presence of captains. If he was spoken to, he would respond, not before. But it was getting harder and harder to hold his peace.

"Furthermore," the 6th Division captain droned, "it seems you have some influence over that girl. Aimi. Exert it to get her to return us and I will make sure the Captain Commander hears a favorable word about you. As things stand now, you will be demoted from captain when we get back. If I tell how you have actively done everything in your power to weaken Soul Society by keeping us all here, you may be put to death by the Soukyouko. Decide."

Kenpachi sat mutely, unconcerned with threats. Byakuya couldn't do a damn thing until they returned. He'd worry about what trouble he was in then, not beforehand. He yawned in Kuchiki's face and turned to go to sleep.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed at the insolence and disrespect done him. He said nothing for the time being.

Hiroko could not simply enter Blondie's mind as she would someone else. Catatonic as he was, the first thing she encountered when she tried was something like a steel door set in the middle of a steel wall that stretched as far as the eye could see. She circled endlessly, looking for any crack in the impenetrable barrier, before she found one. It was a tiny opening, but she slid her consciousness in far enough to widen it and draw Kushina and Minato in with her.

They turned, Hiroko in the lead, and were faced with upheaval, devastation, and destruction everywhere they looked. The landscape erupted as if from volcanoes, the sky tore and roiled, and mountains seemed to crumble. Oceans of some acidic red substance heaved and tossed violently. Things, objects that defied description, were propelled at great force through the air so that the prospect of moving from where they stood was clearly fatal. A shrieking, howling wind blasted through it all, setting the three people's teeth on edge. Above it all revolved Rasta-Sasuke's head, impossibly large, dwarfing everything around it. There was light emanating from this godly head, but the face was contorted into an expression of dislike and anger. Unbeknownst to Hiroko and the two with her, this was the last expression Blondie had seen on Rasta-Sasuke's face.

Hiroko immediately sent out her chakra, seeking to calm the environment around her. Nothing happened. She tried to think.

The mind had levels. The subconscious, conscious and superconscious. If she wasn't mistaken, Blondie had gone through his entire life suppressing his subconscious, the part of him that dealt with wants, desires and needs. He lived almost entirely by his superconscious, letting it dictate his interaction with the world around him. His conscious mind was startlingly absent through much of his day to day life, or it had been until Rasta-Sasuke had come around. Then, Blondie's superconscious, the part of him that dealt with right, wrong and morals, had been colored completely by Rasta-Sasuke.

But the arrival of Rasta-Sasuke had awakened subconscious urges in Blondie at last. And now, because of whatever Rasta-Sasuke had done, the subconscious had completely taken over. Hiroko wasn't sure what she was seeing, but she thought it was predominately sadness, along with all the secondary and tertiary emotions that went with it.

That frightened her badly. If all this was still only the hurting phase of his reaction to Rasta-Sasuke, she did not want to be here when it began changing to anger. That was when Blondie would wake up and he might well be the psychopath Uncle Gaara described.

Levels, she reminded herself. Even the subconscious had levels. Holding Kushina and The Fourth's hands, she closed her eyes and concentrated.

The quiet was immediate. Hiroko cautiously opened her eyes and found herself in something like a black swamp. She could distantly hear the rampaging destruction going on a few levels up. She crept forward, alert for any traps. "Let's go. We don't have much time."

Minutes passed in the cabin. Hiroko was gone for an hour, then two. Kaze-Gaara watched.

Hiroko sat near Bondie's head, one palm resting on his forehead. She held both Kushina and Minato's hands in her other one. They all had their eyes closed.

Looking across the room, he saw Aimi curled in a corner sleeping. 'Bee and….that abomination, were sitting not far away, speaking in low whispers. Rasta-Sasuke was turned on his side, sleeping comfortably. Kaze-Gaara dearly wanted to know what went on in that kid's mind. Why he acted the way he did and why he'd hurt Blondie if he loved him.

They reached a crumbling stone staircase that led farther down. Hiroko paused at seeing it. They'd already descended many levels. She wondered how much farther they had to go; Blondie's mind was turning hostile against them, a sign that his conscious mind was coming back…which meant he was switching over to rage. She, Kushina and Minato were somewhat worse for wear, not wanting to retaliate and risk damaging Blondie further. Off to one side was a hall leading away, with exposed pipes and fixtures. Heavy breathing could be heard down this hall and Hiroko guessed Kyuubi was somewhere down that passageway. She beckoned them down the stairway.

It went on and on until Hiroko feared ever returning. She had never had such trouble maintaining her hold on herself when in another's mind.

They reached the bottom. It was a stone room, windowless. In the far wall was a door like one would find in a prison. The door had a small window of bars near the top. Hiroko approached the door slowly, hesitated, then pushed it open. It was unlocked.

-oOo-

A small blonde boy, perhaps three years old, stood facing one corner. He was sniffling. He turned to look over his shoulder at the three people as they entered the room and Hiroko felt some of her tension leave her. "We found him," she said with relief. "Kushina-sensei, Hokage-sama, the rest is up to you."

Back in the cabin, a frown appeared on Blondie's face. Kaze-Gaara saw with a jolt that the blue eyes were turning red. A slow rumble began deep in Blondie's chest.

"What's happening?" Chibi-Gaara hissed.

"I think he's coming around," Kaze-Gaara answered.

"Did they reach him, do you think?" 'Bee asked.

"If they did, the mission failed. Wake up Aimi. She may need to control Kyuubi if this gets out of hand." Kaze-Gaara backed away from Blondie, noting with dismay that a ghost of orange chakra was beginning to curl off of him.

There was a deafening roar and growl from above them. "Kyuubi," Hiroko breathed staring at the ceiling. "He's being released…I have to stop it!" Hiroko turned and left, running for the stone stairway.

"Should we come with you?" Minato called after her.

"No, stay there! Try to get through to the original!" Hiroko was gone.

Minato closed the door and searched for a means to barricade it. If Kyuubi was being released, that meant there was an aspect of Blondie's conscious mind in here releasing it. He did not want that aspect coming to interrupt them. He feared for Hiroko.

-oOo-

Kushina knelt by the crying boy and was helpless not to cry herself. Her hand went to her throat a moment, clawing at the lump sitting there. The boy was filthy, bruised, clearly hungry. He looked up at her with vacant eyes. When she reached to touch him, he pulled away. "Minato," she said. "He needs us."

Minato went to her. The door would have to remain as it was. He sat down in front of the boy and offered a smile, hiding how this sight of his son hurt him. "Hey, kiddo."

Hiroko ran down the hall lined with pipes until she was brought up short: The tall gates she remembered from her Uncle Naruto's mind were further reinforced by rows and rows of what looked to be steel blocks, each block larger than she was. The seal fastened to the gate doors kept Kyuubi in place, true, but these steel blocks did a better job than that seal ever could. If the seal should ever break or weaken, there would be no getting past those blocks.

But there was a large blonde…thing…currently flinging those blocks away as if they were nothing. If the blocks were Blondie's control, as she suspected, then this must be some form of Blondie that was doing away with them. This was his conscious self, then. He turned to look at her now, sensing her presence. Hiroko's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

He was grotesque. His hair was long and matted, his eyes lopsided and bulging. He was tall, ten feet at least, and hunched over from a curved spine. His arms were disproportionately long, the hands hanging past the bent knees. He roared at her. "Get out. Unless you want to die."

Hiroko stood her ground. Using her Sharingan, she made a preemptive strike and took control of Kyuubi before Blondie could. Blondie saw this and went for her throat.

There were objects in the room with the original. A large purple dinosaur and a doll with rainbows on her blue clothing. There were a few other soft toys of the plushie variety. A picture of 'Bee hung on the wall. That was it.

Though Kushina and Minato tried, the boy would not speak to them. Finally Minato picked up the purple dinosaur. He turned it this way and that, moving its arms and legs, and making it jump. Above them, Hiroko's faint shriek and an accompanying snarl drifted to them.

"That's Barney."

The voice had been a whisper. Minato quelled his smile of triumph and kept a serious expression on his face. "Oh? Do you like Barney?"

A nod. The boy only looked at the toy, nowhere else. "Gaara gave him to me."

"And do you like Gaara?" Kushina asked gently, following her husband's lead.

"He likes me," Little Blondie said.

Minato exchanged a glance with Kushina. That was an important statement. "Gaara's not the only one who likes you."

"'Bee likes me too."

"Who do you like, dear?" Kushina tried to touch him again, but Little Blondie shied away, cringing against the wall. She put her hands back in her lap.

Another snarling growl from above. "That's The Beast," Little Blondie said softly.

"You mean Kyuubi?" Minato clarified.

"No. The Beast. He guards my door."

Kushina looked at the door. "He's not here now."

Little Blondie reached for Barney. Minato handed the toy over, and the boy hugged it. "Sasuke used to be in here with me sometimes." Little Blondie hugged Barney tighter. "You should go."

Hiroko was fighting. As mental battles went, this was worse than the Genjutsu fight with Kabuto. She might, might, have been able to take on Blondie by herself, but Blondie had taken control of Kyuubi from her and they were both fighting her. Kyuubi from his prison and Blondie with everything he had.

She was losing.

Kushina ignored the advice and the sounds of Hiroko screaming. "Did Gaara and 'Bee come in here too?"

"Just Sasuke."

"Why did The Beast let him in and not Gaara and 'Bee?" Minato asked

Little Blondie looked up at them. "He didn't. I did."

Hiroko was down. Finally. Blondie turned from her bleeding body as it began fading into the air and did away with all the steel blocks at once, with one wave of his hand. Kyuubi grinned and Blondie grinned back. He began peeling off the seal.

Kushina understood at last. Little Blondie had let Rasta-Sasuke in because he believed in him. He'd trusted him. And he wouldn't let her or her husband touch him because he didn't trust them. He didn't know them. She'd had enough.

Brushing his protesting hands aside, Kushina took hold of her little boy and hugged him fiercely. "I love you," she said desperately. "I always have, even if I haven't been around. I'm your mother and I love you. My son, my precious son!"

"I don't have a mother."

Minato and Kushina looked up. It was The Beast, standing in the doorway.

Hiroko first collapsed, then began bleeding from her nose. Kaze-Gaara rushed to her side, Chibi-Gaara screamed, and Blondie was in the process of growing a second tail.

Aimi was awake. She heeded her Uncle Gaara's harsh command and folded Rasta-Sasuke, Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee away. She remained in the cabin with her grandparents while Uncle Gaara scooped up Hiroko and left. Then she too entered Blondie's mind.

Minato stood, facing the Beast with a steady look. Behind him he heard Kushina speaking softly to Little Blondie. The Beast leaped, claws extended, fangs bared, for Minato.

"Naruto," was all Minato said.

The Beast stopped. "That's not my name."

"What is your name, then?" Minato asked. He heard Little Blondie asking if it was true, was Kushina his mommy. "Beast?"

"I am a beast."

Minato walked forward slowly, placing each step carefully. "You are Naruto, my son."

Kaze-Gaara left Hiroko with Wyatt and went back to the cabin quickly. He was in time to hear Blondie speak for the first time. "No," the blonde moaned.

"No," The Beast moaned.

"Yes." Minato took another step. "You are my son. My boy. You have my hair and eyes and your mother's chakra. You're mine and I love you." He'd reached him now, and stood looking up at the terrible face. "My beautiful boy."

-oOo-

Little Blondie looked up into his mother's eyes and found what he'd been looking for his entire life. What even Sasuke had been unable to give him completely. He found love and acceptance. He found his family.

Kushina cried out as the little arms went tightly around her neck. She tried to sooth the sobbing boy, but really she was in no condition to do the job right; she was hysterical herself.

-oOo-

Blondie looked at this in shock. He could feel the acceptance of his original self, the way he felt everything the boy did. They were connected. Mirror images. He felt a touch on his body and looked down to find his father holding his hand. His father. The Fourth Hokage, as Chibi-Gaara had told him. His father led him by the hand to where his mother sat rocking his original self and crying. He knelt with them, towering over them, and then his father and mother had drawn him into the embrace. They held him and the original, and Blondie couldn't bare the sweetness.

A sigh escaped Blondie. Kaze-Gaara waited for more, but nothing came. When he looked at Aimi, he saw that her eyes were changing from Sharingan to their normal dark blue. "Kyuubi's neutralized, but I can't fix that seal," she said.

"Let us hope The Fourth and Kushina can do something," Kaze-Gaara said uneasily. His disquiet only grew as time passed with no developments.

The four of them stayed that way, rocking and crying, sobbing and stroking. Minato and Kushina told both boys repeatedly how much they were loved. They kissed them and held them. Much later, when Little Blondie suddenly vanished with a broad smile, the parents lifted their heads to find Blondie changing in their arms.

He was shrinking. His features were turning into the normal handsome ones his physical body possessed. He sat there with his parents and stared at them. "Are you really here with me?" he said hoarsely.

"Yes," Kushina smiled.

"Then I'm dead," Blondie said.

"No. Aimi brought us from the past," Minato explained with a caress of Blondie's hair. "We're here with you, son." He gave a little background information as to where Aimi had brought them from.

"But then you're Demon's parents, not mine," Blondie said. His face fell.

Kushina lifted his chin to glare at him. "You are my boy. Don't ever deny it." Then she choked him in another hug. Blondie matched her violence, hugging her in turn and Minato hugged them both.

Blondie blinked, raised a hand to his face, and sat up. Kaze-Gaara had his sand out and ready, though Blondie's eyes were blue. Minato and Kushina likewise blinked back to an awareness of their surroundings. When the three saw each other, there was a moment of silent staring and then they seemed to be fighting each other as they all tried to hug at the same time.

Kaze-gaara stood and left the cabin with relief. The tension of the past few hours had left him weak.

-oOo-

Blondie spent long minutes touching his mother everywhere. He touched and pinched, squeezed and sniffed until she slapped his hands away in embarrassment. She let him run her long hair through his hands until Minato looked at Blondie with thinned lips. He took the hair that he loved so much from Blondie, meaning to tell his wife to go and fetch the boy something to eat, but Blondie turned to him and Minato was given the same treatment. Face red at where his own son's hands were roaming, he managed to tell Kushina that the kid needed food.

"Son," Minato said. "Naruto. Blondie. Enough. I'm real. There's no need to-"

Blondie kissed his father's eyes, his nose, his hair. He hesitated at Minato's mouth and the older man's eyes widened in fright. "Sasuke said it was wrong for brothers to touch this way, but surely parents and their children can kiss to show love?" Blondie said. And he attempted to do just that.

Minato didn't want to risk a relapse by rejecting Blondie, but he held off from attacking the kid just barely. "Son, no, you mustn't-" The boy was incredibly strong. Too strong to fight off without getting serious. Minato spotted Aimi watching sleepily. "Aimi, bring Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee. Hurry!"

Blondie managed a quick peck of his father's lips and was satisfied. He sat on his haunches. Staring avidly at how his father –his father!- tried to wipe his lips unobtrusively. "Dad."

"Yes?"

"Dad."

"Yes, son."

"Dad."

"Blondie-"

"Dad. I like saying that. Where is mom? Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom-"

Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee entered the cabin and that, thankfully, distracted Blondie enough for Minato to slip away.

Kushina was just ordering the camp fire lit, one of the huge deer dressed and roasted. Everyone on the plateau was awake from her loud commands. Minato walked up to her and there was a collective gasp, a hush, then a cacophony of sound. He turned to find a bunch of blondes with wild-looking eyes heading straight for him, some of them on all fours.

Minato ran.