I'm With you, Forever, The End

by Katsuki-1x

In the world of quirks 90% of the population has a quirk. Scientists believe that soulmates and quirks are somehow linked. Izuku and Katsuki are training at the beach when Izuku finds a fruit. Izuku eats the fruit and gains a power. On the beach the boys save a group of strangers that have washed up on shore. Izuku finds out what is power is and what it is called when the stranger

45. Chapter 45: Encounter

Chapter: 45

Encounter

Summary:

Izuku and group resume their search for Itachi. The Akatsuki is on the move

A man with orange hair and purple rippled eyes looks over his village deep in thought. The black robes with red clouds billow in the wind, getting damp from the ever-present rain. An unknown group has intercepted their attempts to obtain the Biju. His hollow projection waits for the remaining members to arrive at the hideout.

There is not many people in this world that classify as S rank shinobi. Even fewer people capable of defeating S rank Shinobi. The fact that 4 of his members have fallen is worth investigating. Even more, so that they have all died in pairs while detaining or fighting a Jinchuriki. Sasori and Deidara fell against the might of the Leaf's ninja. Though he recognized Kakashi of the Sharingan and the Nine tails, there were about 10 other people that he could tell were powerful.

He searched through all the Bingo books he has, looking for any of these teens. He has searched Itachi's memories to see if the rogue Uchiha knows of these strangers. The Rinnegan outranks the Sharingan and the Mangekyo, so looking into the Uchiha's memories was not terribly hard. Still, he found nothing on these strangers, and this concerns him.

It should have taken the Leaf Shinobi at least 3 days to find them after The One Tails was taken. That should have given them enough time to extract the Biju, but the barriers seals never activated, and yet the Shinobi were able to not only track them but overpower the seals with brute strength. They were barely 12 hours into the Extraction. There is no possible way they would have made it in that time. Even if the sand managed to contact the leaf while Sasori and Deidara were leaving with their Kazekage, it should have taken the leaf Shinobi 3 days to get to the Sand village, get the report, and using Kakashi get the scent and track them.

Then there is the reports from Zetsu showing the group heading toward the Hidden Grass Village. Then well into the borders of the Land of Fire. Zetsu reported them heading to the mountain ranges at a speed that should not have been possible. The speed they were traveling at made the yellow flash, the apparently fastest Shinobi ever to live, look like he was crawling. So he sent out the Immortal Duo to retrieve the Two Tails.

After they failed to report in after several hours, Zetsu went to investigate. He found both Kakazu dead and Hidan missing. Zetsu uses the ground to try and track the missing Akatsuki member but it appears to him the immortal doesn't exist anymore. Zetsu reports back to the leader with his suspicions. Even if Hidan was killed, there would still be something to track, it is almost like the man never existed at all.

While Tobi was hunting the three tails it simply disappeared on him. One moment the Three-Tails was surfacing from the poisoned lake and the next he was dissolving into pure Chakra being absorbed into the earth around him. While Tobi is newish to the Akatsuki, he is not incompetent. The dissipating Chakra even managed to escape all barriers and seals the man has laid down. Now the man has to consider, did the Biju die from the poison and they have to wait several years before the beast reforms. Or perhaps the strangers have something to do with this.

Either way, the man needs to track down these unknowns and get back the Biju they took from him. However, he considers they were able to take out 4 of his elite members without any apparent casualties. He can't risk sending out another single team as there is only Itachi, Kisame, Tobi, Konan, Zetsu, and himself left. Zetsu is a non-combatant so he won't be very useful. Not only does this mysterious group contain well Known heavy hitters from the Leaf (Kakashi, Gai, Neji, and Lee) but also has at least three Jinchuriki. The one tails, the two tails, and the nine tails. Not to mention what appears to be 2 more unknown Jinchuriki. The short glimpse he was able to get of the two half wolfs, showed one to have one tail, and the other to have at least 7 tails. Now Pain has done his research, he knows every single Jinchuriki and Biju, and not once has there been any signs of a wolf-like demon, but he knows that the one tails resemble a Tanuki and the seven tails resemble a flying beetle.

He has heard rumors of Sage mode giving the user their summons features if not done properly. But for some reason Pain doesn't think this is sage mode. He has seen Jiraiya's Sage Mode before and for the sage to activate sage mode he needed his summons out on his shoulders to help him absorb the nature chakra. He did not see any wolves out with the two boys, also as far as he knows there can be only one sage for each summons. He ponders because even though he only caught a glimpse of the two wolf children his Rinnegan didn't see natural chakra around the two. In fact, he didn't see any chakra affinities within the two. Even the boy who was rumored to not be able to use Chakra still had a tiny amount within him. There was also something very strange around the two teens, while Pain couldn't see or detect any chakra around the two, they had something. An aura of sorts around them, the multiple-tailed wolf had a green glow around him, while the other had an orange-type glow.

Pain decides to hold a meeting, find out more about these Strangers, and set up an attack plan that will get him his Biju back. It is the only way to ensure peace, to know peace the world needs to learn pain first.

*** Another Location***

The Akatsuki hideout is a damp and depressing place, Itachi thinks. Itachi has heard from his stationed spies and crows that for the last three years his foolish little brother has been training with Orochimaru in hopes to get strong enough to avenge his clan. At least up until yesterday, that is where his little brother was.

Yesterday, they were extracting the One tails, only to be interrupted by the leaf Shinobi and a group of unknown teens. Those same teens his crow spotted near the location Sasuke went missing. So he wonders what they want with Sasuke and how does this fits into his own plans for atonement. He has kept a crow near Konoha to keep search of the group, but they have yet to make an appearance.

Itachi wants nothing more than to look for his brother, make sure Sasuke is safe. His plans for atonement aside he needs this more than anything. He wonders when his brother will try to hunt him down, he hopes it is soon. Itachi can feel his illness creeping upon him, he is not long for this world.

From what he can gather from this mysterious group is somehow they are saving the Biju as they are being attacked like they know where they are and when the Akatsuki is striking. He knows Kakashi's strength and even though the copy nin is traveling with the Great Sage Jiraiya and the Green Beast of Konoha, Itachi knows they would not have stood much of a chance against the four Akatsuki members. Sure he has no Doubt that Kakashi could have taken out Deidara on his own, but he would not have come out unscathed. To Kill 4 of the Akatsuki members in 2 days is a feat not many people can accomplish. He watched the battlefields with his crows, out of the 20ish people in this group only 3 or 4 of them have done any real damage.

There is something he is missing, somehow this Mysterious group knows something about the Akatsuki's plans, or perhaps they know something more almost like one of them can see into the future. He will have to leave his partner for a little while and talk to these people. It seems like this Mysterious Group knows more about the Akatsuki than Itachi does.

Everything Itachi knows is speculation, pulling information from slight observations. He knows that while Pain looks to be the leader, he can't help but think there is someone else pulling the strings. Being in the Mainline of the Uchiha has given Itachi access to the sacred tablet, he knows how the Rinnegan is formed, and it is not possible for Pain to have been able to awaken it. And as far as Itachi knows only two people ever have ever had it, the first was the Sage of the Six Paths. The only Uchiha to ever awaken it was Madara. The question Itachi has been turning in his head is who gave it to Pain. Itachi doesn't think the Sage would have given it to him. So that leaves Madara, the question is why? What would the purpose be? Why does the Rinnegan feel broken? And is it possible that someone or something is controlling Pain through the Rinnegan while making it seem like it is Pain's will? If this is the case, then why? Why wouldn't this person just use the Rinnegan themselves to achieve what they are trying to achieve?

Not to mention the background information he knows of the other members of the Akatsuki. He even suspects that "Tobi" is either Madara or Obito, his money is banked on Obito since he feels the same chakra coming from Kakashi's eyes. And he remembers a conversation Itachi had while Kakashi was his captain in Anbu. Talking about how his teammate gave Kakashi his eye as his body was being crushed. When he was forced to Slaughter the Clan, he had Tobi's help and he felt the same chakra signature that Kakashi gives off every time the older man exposes his Sharingan. But Tobi's Chakra feels corrosive, tainted, like a curse or a presence has warped the other Uchiha.

He knows that Pain is really Nagato Uzumaki using the six paths the Rinnegan gives him to control corpses in his steed. And even though the Uzumaki have traces of Senju Chakra, there is no way he could have formed the Rinnegan. All the other members of the organization, Itachi can track their existence from the moment of their births.

Either way, Itachi will meet up with this group, a simple Genjutsu of the Uchiha Massacre and Sasuke will want nothing more than his death. If that doesn't work, he is sure he can take out a couple of the teens traveling with his brother. It would be so easy to snuff out a child's life, he has done it before. He doesn't want it to come to that, he doesn't think if he has to kill another child if he will be able to keep his sanity. There is no saving him from his illness, and if he has to sacrifice his sanity for this one last act for his brother, well Itachi thinks he can go to the pure lands with a smile on his face. Everything he has done has been for Sasuke.

**** With Pack ****

For the last couple of hours, Kakashi sits with Rin to answer her questions. Surprisingly she doesn't have many because even as a soul she was able to watch the events that have taken place over the last few days. What is surprising though is that she appears to be closer in age to when she died, rather than being 33 like she should be. While she might be in the body of a seventeen-year-old, her mental age and spiritual age is 30.

After her questions are answered she sits in silence, she knows what she did basically destroyed her teammate, but in her defense, she didn't know what else to do. Being a Shinobi means putting the village before herself. She regrets using Kakashi to kill herself, especially since her younger teammate was still living with the guilt of Obito's death on his conscience. She glances at Kakashi and she can see the guilt plaguing his features.

Kakashi has not had an easy life, witnessing his father commit suicide at the age of 5. Training himself into the ground to smother the pain a five year should never have to feel. Putting everything he had to become a ninja and never break the rules. Only for the first time, he broke the rules he lost his teammate. Then had to live with the guilt of killing his last teammate using the Jutsu he created, breaking his promise to his best friend.

She watches Kakashi and can see the kid she grew up with hiding his hurt behind a literal and figurative mask. She can tell he has not quite been able to get over his grief, and his eyes appear to be ages older than himself. During her time as a soul, she has watched Kakashi giving everything to everyone he can while still keeping them at a distance. Keeping himself alone for fear that he would be the reason for their deaths. She has witnessed the man wither away at the memorial stone for hours between missions wanting nothing more than to be with his teammates in the pure land. But not wanting to leave the people that need him behind.

She doesn't notice the tears coming through her eyes the longer she observes Kakashi, "I'm sorry" she blurts out.

Kakashi snaps wide vulnerable eyes toward his resurrected teammate, "you have nothing to say sorry for. You did what you felt was right to keep the village safe."

Rin shakes her head, "that's not true. I'm not sorry I sacrificed myself for the village. I'm sorry that I used you to do it. I'm sorry that I added to your hurt. And I'm sorry I left you alone."

Kakashi feels raw with emotions that he has pushed down for years. He can't deny that he still has nightmares about plunging his fist into his teammate's chest. And since he had his Sharingan activated he sees it more often than not, and every time he does the wound festers. He spends hours scrubbing his hands only for the blood to still be there. Scrubbing his arm until his blood covers his teammates. But he has never blamed her, he blames himself. He wasn't strong enough to make sure she wasn't captured in the first place. He wasn't fast enough to get to her before she was turned into a Jinchuriki. And he wasn't smart enough to convince her that there was another way to protect the village without her killing herself. It was his fault; he was to blame. And when the whispers of murder and teammate killer would hit his ears, he didn't do anything to deny it. Because the truth was, it was his fault, and he killed his own teammate.

He wants to deny that he didn't need to hear an apology, but deep down he knows he needs it. It's like a balm to the soul, cleaning the festering wound of guilt and betrayal in his heart. So he wraps his teammate in a hug, to hide his tears, and the slight trembling in his shoulders. He doesn't say anything to her, because he has never been good with words from the heart. He hopes his hug conveys his acceptance of the apology and that he forgives her. His breath hitches as she tightens her arms around him, and he knows she understands him.

The sound of a throat clearing breaks them out of their moment. Kakashi breathes to lock his emotions away for now and turns to the source. He levels a narrow-eyed look at the green-haired teen, and the boy fidgets under his studious gaze. "What is it, Izuku?"

Izuku's ears and nose twitches, "we need to leave here. There is something dark and plant-like that just came into my range. I think it is a member of the Akatsuki checking to see what happened with Matatabi. With four of their targets, it probably won't do any good to have them catch us."

Kakashi nods, "Ok, where are we going?"

Izuku looks down on the ground, "I'm not sure, I think we should find out where the four-tails is maybe start heading there. It might be better if we have the chance to talk to them before the Akatsuki attacks. Maybe we can convince him to go into hiding or accept our help."

"The four tails Jinchuriki is from the Hidden Stone Village. So I bet he is close to the village. The Hidden Stone also has the Five Tails as well. So we should start heading in that direction." Kakashi comments.

Izuku nods, he stretches his senses out the dark Plant-like creature is getting close to where they are. All the entrances to this place have been caved in. They need to find a way out of here. He turns his piercing gaze on Neji, "Hey Neji?"

The teen perks up when his name is called, "what do you need?"

"Your Byakugan can see through walls, right?" Izuku asks. Neji nods. "I need you to look through the walls and I find a spot I can punch through."

Neji gives a decisive nod and activates his Byakugan. The veins next to his eyes bulge out as he looks around the room. He finds a spot and leads Izuku to it. "Here the wall is the weakest. Should lead us out of here."

Izuku nods thankfully and pats Neji on the shoulder. He starts to draw upon OFA powering it through his arm. He activates full cowling, "how thick is this section?"

"About a foot" Neji informs.

Izuku ponders how much energy is going to be needed to break the wall, he powers 100% into his arm and cocks his fist back. Once he has enough power flowing into his arm, he punches the wall using Armament Haki to try to protect the bones in his arm. He doesn't quite manage to hide his wince from the flames healing his arm. But as the pain passes and the dust settles there is a hole big enough for them to escape. He ignores the awed looks from the Ninja and passes a sheepish smile to Katsuki.

Katsuki wants to yell and rage at Izuku for hurting himself and not asking for his help, but he pushes the rage down. He knows if they both punched the wall, chances are the entire structure would come down on them. That doesn't mean he has to be happy about it. He stomps to his Nerd and lets out the remaining anger with a breath, "you good, Nerd?"

Izuku smiles widely, "I'm good Kacchan, I used Armament to help with the backlash. I didn't break anything this time, just bruised the arm." Izuku gestures excitedly.

Katsuki huffs out a sigh of relief, "that's good." He studies the Nerd for any lingering signs of pain, happy that he doesn't find any he gives his Nerd a smile, "We should get out of here. That plant thing is close now. I estimate we have less than 5 minutes to put some distance between us and it."

Izuku sobers up, "you're right as always Kacchan. Let's go."

They leave the building they were in and Izuku starts to transform into his wolf form. He bows in front of the group and allows them to board. He takes to the sky again following directions from Kakashi. Suddenly Izuku growls and circles the air a few times. Katsuki's ears shift, and he uses his observation Haki to figure out what or who the nerd is focused on. Kakashi levels Katsuki with an eyebrow raised in question. Katsuki shrugs, "we are going to land. The nerd wants to check something out."

"Can you tell what it is?" Kakashi asks.

Katsuki shakes his head, "My senses while formidable, are not on par with the Nerds. Whatever has his attention is outside my range."

Kakashi nods, "ok I guess we will figure it out when we get there."

Izuku starts his descent, his sense of smell picked up the scent of Cloves and warmth traveling with someone who has the scent of the sea clinging to them. There is also something like an illness in one of the two people. Izuku narrows down who it might be he has the feeling that he is close to the rogue Uchiha. But how is he going to alert the other man without the shark dude picking it up? He lands just far enough away that the two have not noticed them yet. He waits patiently for the others to dismount him before he shifts back into his human form.

He looks around, studying the landscape, clearly looking for something. Katsuki gives him a questioning look, "What is it, Nerd?"

Izuku smells the air, "I caught a scent, I need to investigate it." He throws his senses out searching, "there is another presence with him, saltwater with a touch of Marine life. I need him distracted so I can investigate the other."

"Could it be Itachi and Kisame?" Kakashi asks.

"I'm not sure but judging from their presence I would like to say it is likely." Izuku ponders.

"With help from my Eternal Rival, I shall meet our foes." Gai whisper shouts.

"My brother is close?" Sasuke asks with disbelief twinging his voice.

"I don't want to get your hopes up, it really could be anyone," Izuku states seriously. "I need a way to draw him over here. Naruto you're his target, right? There is no doubt Itachi knows we have Sasuke. Kakashi, Gai, Naruto, and I will meet with our foes. Kakashi and Gai intercept the Shark, Naruto and I will pretend to flee and bring Itachi here."

"I will come with you!" Sasuke snarls.

"No, you won't" Izuku begins layering conquerors in his voice. "Sasuke, you need to stay here, if you come with us Itachi has no reason to follow us. We need to get him away from his partner so I can heal him." He receives a pouting nod from Sasuke. He looks at Kakashi and Gai and plucks a few paralytic feathers, "when you get an opening use this to Paralyze the shark. Just stab it into him."

"Sounds easy enough," Kakashi states.

"I'll go with Kakashi and Gai," Aizawa speaks up. "I can use my capture weapon to give them an opening."

Izuku nods, "Ok. Kacchan I'm counting on you to make sure Sasuke doesn't follow us."

Katsuki grumbles under his breath but nods regardless.

Izuku, Naruto, Kakashi, Gai, and Aizawa take off toward the direction Izuku caught the scent in. Izuku knows the moment both of the presences lock on to them. He feels confusion from who he thinks is Itachi, and excitement and bloodlust coming from the Shark dude. Izuku points straight ahead signaling to Kakashi that they are close as Izuku and Naruto fall back slightly.

Kakashi, Gai, and Aizawa dash out of the trees, Aizawa activates his quirk to control his capture weapon to perform a distraction. Kakashi glances at the other male and notices the straight red eyes, like his Sharingan but missing the Tomoes. He is not surprised since he already figured out who his match was during the conversation with Izuku. He can't say he is disappointed either, the other man clearly cares for the younger people of the group. Even the ninja and Jinchuriki, Kakashi saw the rage on the man's face when Katsuki was berating the Hokage about the treatment of Naruto. He bets that if the Red-Haired male wasn't holding him back, he would have lashed out as well. Aizawa also seems like the type that is strict but fair in his teaching. He will not accept half-ass attempts but will give help where needed.

Luckily Kakashi has the Sharingan because he was so lost in his thoughts, he would have lost his head without it. He decides to focus on their battle, and he will talk with the other man later when their lives aren't on the line. A long time fighting against and fighting with Gai have them working in perfect sync, keeping the Shark man at bay. Kakashi is glad Itachi seems content to let Kisame deal with them. He catches eyes with the Uchiha and tilts his head in a way Itachi will recognize from their Anbu days. Itachi responds in kind and turns his attention to the two presences he feels in the forest.

Naruto throws several Kunai at the Uchiha from their cover in the forest. Naruto holds in his yelp when Itachi disperses in a flock of crows. All the crows coming straight for them. Izuku activates full Cowling and Naruto dispels his clone, Izuku sprints to the next hiding spot and waits for Itachi to get in range again. They repeat the process until they are far enough away from Kisame. Izuku leaps out of the tree and waits for Itachi to reform.

Just as Itachi reforms completely Izuku lashes out with his green fire, surrounding the Uchiha in green flames. Repairing his eyes and the damage to his Chakra coils within the first few seconds. Itachi tries to struggle out of the fire until he settles as he feels relief. Izuku senses Itachi's confusion spike but decides to ignore it. He focuses a bit more on the Uchiha's eyes until all the damage has been healed, improving Itachi's eyesight. "You can deactivate your Sharingan." Izuku commands.

Itachi narrows his eyes, "Why?"

Izuku smirks, "Your eyes won't work on me, Itachi. At least not unless I want them to. I have healed your eyes so you will be able to see without the Sharingan."

"Why would you do that?" Itachi asks.

"Because I can." Izuku teases, "but also because I know your plans for Sasuke, and I won't let you hurt him."

Itachi's breath hitches, "I will get Sasuke's eyes, and with them the eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Cut the shit, Itachi." Izuku snarls, "your real plan is to have Sasuke kill you. To atone for your crimes. Crimes that were not yours to bear. I won't let you put another scar in Sasuke's heart."

"How do you know my plans?" Itachi narrows his eyes.

"You play the villain very well," Izuku smiles sadly, "but the funny thing about the human heart is it doesn't lie. When you say your plans are to kill your little brother for his eyes, well it doesn't take a genius to know your lying. Everything you have done has been for Sasuke and it is time you told him why he had to grow up without his brother."

"I killed the clan," Itachi starts, "he should want me dead, regardless of my reasons."

"Maybe, but what Sasuke needs is his brother." Izuku argues, "I can give him somewhere to belong, I can give him pack and people who care and love him. There is no reason for you to walk this path alone. You were backed into a corner and Danzo took advantage of it. Did you know Danzo fabricated the events so he could get his hands on the Sharingan? He was going to take your brother and use his thirst for revenge to put him in root. It is only thanks to Naruto that Danzo never had the chance. Danzo didn't destroy Shisui's eye, he took it to Orochimaru and got it implanted with 10 others. He was never going to honor your agreement, he just wanted you out of Konoha so you wouldn't be in the way."

Itachi's face doesn't change much but Izuku can see the differences in the way the man's shoulders tense with every word. "How do you know all of this?"

"It's better if I show you," Izuku states confidently.

Itachi's eyes morph back into his Mangekyo Sharingan to drag Izuku into his Tsukuyomi. Izuku keeps eye contact with Itachi with a knowing stance, entering the illusion willingly. The sky turns blood red, the blood moon full and low on the horizon. Izuku looks around for a moment before he realizes he is strapped onto what appears to be a crucifixion cross. Izuku flares his flames to break out of his bindings, "I told you, Itachi this won't work on me. This technique works by destroying the spirit or attacking the soul. My power heals the spiritual and physical damage."

"I see," Itachi sighs. "This illusion alters your perceived time, three days in here is three seconds in the real world."

Izuku hums, "I take it, you cast this technique so I will explain everything to you." Itachi nods in confirmation. Izuku breathes out a sigh and closes his eyes.

The world starts to shift showing Itachi the future Izuku witnessed. Itachi watches as a crazed version of his little brother tries to hunt him down, the battle they have at the Uchiha Hideout. Itachi forcing his brother to use the curse mark to lure Orochimaru out of him so Itachi can seal away the piece of Orochimaru living in his brother, destroying the curse mark in the process. He reaches for his brother's eyes and instead gives his brother a forehead poke before dying at his brother's feet.

Itachi witnesses Sasuke taking his eyes and learning the truth, Sasuke's hatred now turned to the leaf for what they did to Itachi. Despite Itachi's hopes that Sasuke would be viewed as a hero, he learns Danzo wants Sasuke captured to face trial for his crimes. Itachi snarls knowing Danzo is going to use Sasuke and put him in Root. He won't let that happen. He continues to watch as the memories show Sasuke fighting Danzo. Danzo uses the Sharingan of his family, planted in his arm to escape death 10 times. Rage boils up in him knowing his family was desecrated and their eyes were stolen to give Danzo power. He learns the truth that Danzo fabricated evidence to make it seem like the Uchiha couldn't be reasoned with. To take Shushi's eye before his friend could use it to convince his family to stop.

He witnesses all his plans to have Sasuke save the world end in failure. He once thought he knew who was pulling the strings behind the Akatsuki, only to find out Obito and Madara were just as much victims of loss as Itachi is. Convinced there is a way to bring back what is lost, to bring back their centers. Manipulated to work for Zetsu to plunge the world into darkness to resurrect the Mother of Chakra. He watches the complete destruction of the world and has to watch as those he loves and cares about dying unable to do anything else.

Itachi doesn't notice the tears in his eyes as he drops to the ground on his knees, "why? Why show me this? What can I do to change it?"

Izuku moves to him slowly like approaching a wounded animal. When he reaches the man, he drops a hand on his shoulder, "this is inevitable. There is nothing I can do to change this. However, there is a way to give you the life you deserve, with your brother."

Itachi rubs the tears out of his eyes and focuses on the younger teen. "Show me."

Izuku nods and shows the man the visions of his world, Ninja, Heroes, Pirates all fighting to defeat a threat none of them stand a chance against alone. They are victorious and they rebuild and grieve the fallen, but there is peace. Peace Itachi does not want to pass up. If there is peace to be had anywhere, if Sasuke can have a chance to live a relatively safe life, Itachi needs to make this happen. He needs this future more than anything. He watches as he remakes his clan with the surviving Uchiha. He watches as Sasuke finds love and settles down. Itachi finds his soulmates in this other world and while they might not be romantic, they share the same hardships and seek comfort in each other. He lives a much longer life than he thought he would, watching as Izuku grows his own family and gives everything he has to make sure they are safe and loved. He watches as the survivors search the other worlds for survivors and offer a helping hand, a new beginning.

Itachi stays silent until the last of the visions plays out, he considers all possible outcomes, already forming plans and putting together what is not said or shown to come up with the likely outcomes from these visions. "Is this possible? Can there really be true peace?"

"As long as there are those that are willing to fight for it. Peace will be achieved." Izuku states sagely. "I am a hero; it is my job to make sure people are safe whether they want to be or not. But I am only one person, I can only do so much on my own. Once Fuji told me of the threat, I needed to find more people to help me. If there is nothing, I can do to save your world then I might as well offer those I can a new beginning. But I need all the pieces, I need all the Spirit Gods, the Uchiha, the D Clan, and the heroes to work together for the betterment of all."

"Can you promise me that Sasuke will be safe, no matter what?" Itachi glares.

"I would give my life for the safety of my pack," Izuku defends. "As long as I am alive my pack will be safe."

"You keep saying pack." Itachi states.

Izuku rubs the back of his neck, "I'm a wolf I need Pack. I claim people that need family. In fact, I have claimed several people from here already. You, Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, the other Jinchuriki, Gaara, and Kakashi to name a few. It's confusing but when I woke from these visions the feelings of pack were there. The memories of fighting and getting to know you all never faded. So when I found a way to get here and heard Gaara and Naruto in trouble I did everything I could to save them. I have already destroyed the piece of Orochimaru in Sasuke. I healed his tormented soul and I told him what I knew about the massacre. Regardless of the Akatsuki's plans, I will not let you take my pack." Izuku finishes with a growl, body posting protectively.

"So let me get this right, you remember Sasuke from a vision of the future, decided he was pack before you came here and saved him from a legendary Sannin. Just because Sasuke is pack?" Itachi tries to understand.

"Yes, exactly," Izuku answers with a smile.

"Why does pack mean so much to you?" Itachi asks curiously.

Something sad flashes in his eyes, "I know the pain of having family leave me behind because I wasn't someone worth loving. When my power didn't come in my father called me worthless and left my mother. I thought I would lose Kacchan, but I found Fuji and was granted a power that would allow me to be a hero. I thought then that even if I couldn't save anyone, even if I couldn't be a hero; I could still save people by giving them someone who cares, someone who loves them when no one else will."

Itachi gives the younger teen an understanding nod, he gets it, in some way he is not much different from Izuku. Itachi knows he will do anything and everything possible to make sure Sasuke is happy. So he can believe the conviction and determination in Izuku's eyes and face. "So what is the plan now. You have One tail, Two tails, and Nine tails. Tobi went to capture the three tails, but he reported the Biju dispersed possibly from the poison he used to get him to the surface. Kisame's target is the four tails, we have tracked him to this location."

"I already have the Three-Tails," Izuku smirks. "I need to know what you want to do; Pain is going to think we are getting insider information. He is going to figure out you have been relaying information to the leaf on the Akatsuki's movements. Until I can convince Pain and Tobi to join us, I do not think it would be a good idea for you to continue to spy on them."

"I agree," Itachi nods, "I should lay low for a while. It seems like you have a way to get to the tailed beasts to intercept the Akatsuki, so my information is useless to the leaf. By the time they would get word that we are moving against one of the Jinchuriki you have already dealt with the threat. I can't go home to the leaf because I am still a criminal. Without the Akatsuki, there is nowhere else to go."

"You should come with us; I have enough power to deal with Pain should he come for you. I can finish healing your eyes and your Chakra Coils. With those issues healed your body will recover. Unlocking your Mangekyo Sharingan caused your undeveloped Chakra Coils to expand rapidly causing microburst of Chakra to enter your system. While this wouldn't be deadly every once in a while, the fact is your coils have never had the chance to heal. Basically, your Chakra is poisoning you." Itachi looks at Izuku confused, Izuku sighs, "While I can not see the coils as Neji can, I can sense them. With your brother the chakra is a constant humming flow," he waves gestures with his fingers an infinity loop showing Itachi the continuous flow. "With your Chakra, there are gaps where the chakra needs to carve out a path. When the chakra creates a new path, it deteriorates the cells and organs already there. Basically, your chakra is cutting through your lungs to make new paths through to complete the circuit. However, this is a slow process, and the new paths scar over before the chakra can make a connection to complete the loop. If nothing is done, your lungs will be full of Chakra and you will not be able to breathe."

"Ok, so how can you fix it?" Itachi asks a bit shakily.

"I will have Neji shut off your Chakra points so I can heal the coils without the Chakra flowing through. Then I will heal all the damage and have Neji reactivate your chakra slowly until all your chakra is flowing through the original coils." Izuku informs.

"And your sure it will work?" Itachi pushes skeptically.

"Yes, if I can bring someone who died 15 years ago to life, I can heal something so minor as chakra coils. Besides, there is something else we need to do." Izuku states confidently.

"What is that?"

"After I heal you, you need to put your brother in a Genjutsu." Izuku states with hard eyes.

"Why?" Itachi glares.

"Because you want him to unlock his Mangekyo Sharingan and having him kill someone in a Genjutsu without him knowing will do that. Then to save both of your eyes, we switch them. None of you have to die. I don't know if you knew this when you made your plans, but do you know who Sasuke's center is?"

Itachi contemplates this, "I always assumed it would be his Soulmate."

"You're wrong," Izuku smiles sadly, "Itachi, you are his Center. Centers don't have to be soulmates. Madara's center was his brother, Obito's center was his teammate and soulmate Rin, and Sasuke's center is you. It wasn't learning the truth that turned Sasuke into madness. It was the fact that he witnessed you die that turned him against the village."

"I don't know if it is possible for both of us to unlock the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan by trading eyes, it has never been done before, and there have been so few Uchiha that have unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan. All I really know about it is from the history of Madara. When his brother died Madara took his eyes and gained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He is the only Uchiha that has ever awoken it. I just assumed that one of us needed to die in order for the other to get it." Itachi explains.

Izuku hums, "either way I can make it, so you won't go blind without trading eyes. That is if you don't want to risk it. We can trade your eyes if it awakens the EMS the that is that, if not then I can at least make sure you both won't become blind from using them."

"That is acceptable," Itachi agrees.

"Then shall we get out of here, before Naruto gets himself into trouble?" Izuku smirks.

Itachi nods and dispels his technique, the sky is blue again and the sun is in the same position as it was when they left. Izuku notices the blood coming from the Uchiha's eyes and he flares his green flames to heal the damage. Itachi feels the warmth engulf him and he sags in relief not able to pretend to be unaffected. He has been in pain for so long that this little reprieve from his eyes being healed feels like heaven.

Naruto fidgets as Izuku heals the other Uchiha, he waits patiently for Izuku to finish healing the other man. When the flames recede Naruto studies the other man, "so he is not really trying to kill Sasuke?" Naruto asks not able to hold back the protective snarl that gets released.

"I was never going to kill Sasuke." Itachi sighs, "I just needed to make sure he would come after me. But I have learned that my plans to give Sasuke my eyes don't stop the threat we will face."

"Itachi is fully on our side, Naruto." Izuku states.

Naruto smiles relieved, "thank god, I really didn't want to have to kill my best friend's brother."

Izuku pats Naruto's shoulder, "it won't have to come to that, and I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't appreciate you doing that for him."

Naruto rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, "yeah, the Teme would get pissy if I took his kill from him."

Izuku smirks, "let's go back before Kacchan explodes trying to keep Sasuke put."

Naruto nods sagely and leaps back into the trees. Izuku shakes his head fondly and follows leading Itachi to the rest of the pack. Naruto, Izuku and Itachi break through the trees into the clearing only to witness an angry ash-blonde sitting on the back of the younger Uchiha brother, his palm poised to crackle small threatening explosions right next to Sasuke's ear. Neji hovers close eye's activated but to the surprise of everyone there not interfering.

"Kacchan?" Izuku calls, confusion written all over his face, "why are you sitting on Sasuke?"

Katsuki answers Izuku's question with a snarl. Neji sighs, "Sasuke tried to sneak after you, Katsuki tackled him to make him stay put."

Izuku nods accepting the explanation, he observes the scene for a moment longer, interrupted by a quiet relentless cough. "Oh, Neji come here for a moment. I need your help."

Neji looks at Izuku with confusion and shock on his usually stoic face, "what is it?"

"I need you to block Itachi's chakra so I can heal his coils," Izuku explains quickly.

Neji studies the older Uchiha with his Byakugan activated. Itachi lights up in scaring chakra pathways his eyes widen as he understands exactly what is happening to the older man. "His pathways are all over the place. His original pathways are so damaged his chakra has started to carve new pathways. I didn't think it was possible." He levels a look at Izuku feeling that the teen already knew this but, "how?"

"I can't see the chakra pathways, but I can sense them." Izuku tries to explain. "So can you block the chakra as I heal his coils?"

Neji nods an apologetic look on his face as he gets into his Gentle Fist stance. He gives Izuku a nod and seeing the teen light his hands-on green fire he starts to close Itachi's Tenketsu points. He watches the Chakra pathways heal and before the flames reach a new section Neji shuts off more points.

It takes hours to meticulously heal the Uchiha, and at some point, Kakashi and his team come back into the clearing to observe the procedure. Sasuke has had his Sharingan activated the entire time watching the minute changes in his brother's Chakra. While not being able to see the entirety of the process he has a slight idea of what is happening from the little he can see. Sometime during the healing process, Sasuke has stopped his struggling under the angry blonde's hold. He doesn't even realize when the other teen gets off his back and moves him to sit up.

Sasuke can't stop the slight worry that builds up as he focuses on Izuku. The other teen's breathing is labored, tired, there is a slight shake to the other teen's frame, and the sweat dripping down the sides of the teen's face. When Sasuke was told that the other boy would heal his brother he didn't expect it to be this taxing, he is positive that not a single person in this world is capable of doing what he is. Sasuke feels slightly guilty wanting Izuku to search and heal his brother right after the taxing life and death battles they have gone through these last couple of days. But he can't help the overwhelming relief he feels as his brother's breathing levels out, his heart rate steadies, and while he was the normal Uchiha pale to begin with; he didn't know how sickly his brother looked, until a little bit of color returned to his face.

Katsuki watches Izuku heal the Uchiha with a mixture of emotions on his face. Pride for his soulmate doing something so selfless like healing a person many healers would have given up on. Anger because he is not blind to how taxing this procedure is, but there is nothing he can do to take the burden from his soulmate. Uselessness because when it comes to actually save people, well Katsuki can only blow things up. Katsuki pushes the emotions down as he observes his Nerd, his soulmate is trembling slightly, sweat beading down the sides of his face, and Katsuki knows it's only sheer willpower and determination that is keeping him up.

As the sixth hour passes, Izuku's flames start to trickle out. He leans back on his heels and wipes the sweat from dripping into his eyes. He closes his eyes and throws his senses out; it appears he will have to do another healing session. He looks at Neji, "how does his chakra coils look? Is he going to need another healing session?"

Neji furrows his brow studying the older Uchiha, "while they are considerably better than there were a few hours ago, he could benefit from another session. Though his chakra coils are not life-threatening anymore. I can activate a little bit of his Chakra at a time to get it cycling again."

Izuku sags with a small relieved but tired smile, "good, that's good." The willpower and determination keeping him steady leaving his system causing him to start falling forward. Katsuki is there in a flash to catch the stubborn healer, getting a quiet "Thank you," from his exhausted soulmate. Katsuki maneuvers Izuku to lay his head in Katsuki's lap brushing his fingers through wild curly- green hair.

Neji nods and gets to work slowly re-opening Itachi's Tenketsu points. The older Uchiha groans at the sudden rush of energy in his system. Neji winces sympathetically as he knows this is not a painless process. Having felt the power of the gentle fist himself while training and perfecting his style. It takes another hour or so for Neji to finish. He watches the chakra moving slowly through the Uchiha's body sighing in relief when he discovers no obstructions that cause the chakra to carve additional pathways. Neji watches as the man falls into a peaceful sleep, he is glad because the bags around the Uchiha's eyes are massive and point towards insomnia. Neji thinks the cause for this is chronic pain from having your Chakra eat your organs. Neji sighs as he deactivates his Byakugan "he is asleep now."

Sasuke lets out a relieved sob and deactivates his Sharingan moves slowly unconsciously towards his older brother. Not sure if he wants to cuddle up with him like they did when Sasuke was younger, or if he wants to beat the shit out of him because he wants answers and he can't get them if his brother is asleep. He feels a pair of eyes on him, burning and tingling his skin. His eyes lock onto Izuku, he is studying him with an unknown look. Something like worry, fondness, understanding, and protectiveness. But for all Sasuke can tell it could also be pity, and Sasuke hates when people pity him. He doesn't need pity.

But he thinks back on his conversation with the other teen, the truths Izuku freely offered him, he didn't sense pity there. So why would Izuku pity him now? He probably wouldn't, so Sasuke lifts an eyebrow in question.

Izuku shakily tries to sit up, only managing successfully because of his soulmate's careful pushing. He can feel the swirl of emotions storming in the younger Uchiha. Anger, longing, hope, sadness, guilt to name a few. And he is surprised he doesn't feel any hatred coming from Sasuke aimed at his brother. Izuku won't lie he was worried Sasuke would take the opportunity to kill Itachi while the man was weakened. But he understands Sasuke's world has been turned upside down and then inside out over the last couple of days. And there is hope for the two Uchiha to finally talk and lay the truth out there. "He will wake up in a couple of hours. You will get your answers then." Izuku looks towards Kakashi, "the Shark?"

Kakashi nods, "unconscious and paralyzed."

Izuku hums, "good, he will stay that way until the feathers are removed. We should remove them I don't want anyone being able to study them. Jiraiya, is there a seal that can close off our presence?"

Jiraiya ponders, "depends on what you are looking to accomplish. There are seals that can make an area seem to not exist, there are seals we can place on people that will make them invisible unless the target knows where to look. There are other seals that throw pursuers off a trail."

Izuku's eyes glaze over as he thinks on this information, "I think with Itachi and myself unable to move very far that we should close off this area. I won't be able to shift for a few hours. Kacchan could take us but he can't fly. It seems that the thing that was following us before seems to track us from the ground. He can't find us if we are in the air. If Kacchan carries us there is a chance that they can predict where we are going. With Shark guy down, someone is bound to investigate." He trails off in a fit of mutters.

The ninja looked at the boy a little creeped out, only Shikamaru seems to know what the boy is doing by muttering his thoughts out. Katsuki looks at the ninja amused, then lightly flicks his nerd in the forehead. The boy's eyes clear and he blushes it has been a while since he has had a muttering fit that bad. Katsuki really tries to keep the worry out of his voice, "Nerd, you were scaring them."

Izuku blinks and looks around for a second, then recognition floods into his gaze. An embarrassed blush blooms on his face and he wants nothing more than to hide. "Sorry, Kacchan." He whispers barely hidden panic lacing his voice.

Katsuki rubs Izuku's back lightly trailing his fingers around his mark. Izuku slumps with a pleasing shiver, fear melting away. "You good Nerd?" Katsuki whispers receiving a nod.

"Thanks, Kacchan, I haven't zoned out like that in a while."

Katsuki nods and turns his piercing gaze on the white-haired Sage, "Jiraiya, set up any seals that will keep us hidden. The nerd is in no condition to move us, he is right even if I shift if we stay in contact with the ground, it will only be a matter of time before we are found."

The Sage nods and starts to draw the strongest barrier and concealment seals he knows on the ground. He lays several around that will block entry into the area around them, while also making it impossible for anyone to break through the ground, or teleport into the area. He lays the key into the middle locking his Chakra to the seal to keep it powered. "Noone will be able to leave or enter the seal in any way until I deactivate it. I also laid down a sensory seal that will alert me if someone comes within 100 yards of the barrier."

Izuku sighs in relief, "Thank you, Jiraiya."

"Just rest brat, I'll keep the barrier up as long as you need it." Jiraiya grumbles.

Izuku nods and falls asleep slumped over his explosive soulmate. Katsuki is content to let the teen use him as a pillow. He looks around with a protective gleam in his eyes. His eyes fall on Luffy first a wide smile on his face as he explains his stretching abilities to Lee. Lee watches Luffy with the fondness of a child watching their hero. Katsuki smiles and turns his gaze toward Kirishima, the redhead is calmly sitting near Luffy. Kirishima has a peaceful smile on his face as he watches Luffy excitedly demonstrates his abilities. Kaminari sits with Kirishima looking like he wants to fall asleep. Ashido, Rin, and TenTen whisper quietly to each other. Obviously talking about girl stuff. Ace and Shoto sit quietly watching Sabo and Gaara. Gaara demonstrates his sand manipulation to Sabo so the other teen can try to mimic the movements with his own iron particles. Shikamaru lays in the grass looking at the small expanse of sky he can see through the trees. Naruto moves to hover near his best friend as the younger Uchiha frets around his unconscious brother. Nii and Gai are sitting with Shanks and Jiraiya, as the old Sage tries to tell Shanks about his clan. Shanks listens to the stories about his deceased sister with avid attention. Katsuki can sense the longing and sadness coming from their father figure.

Finally, Katsuki turns his protective gaze to their older brother figure. Aizawa and Kakashi sit against the trunk of a tree, radiating nervousness. Kakashi fidgets as he tries to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. Aizawa is patient with the emotionally constipated man. Katsuki wants to chuckle and hit the man over the head to just get on with it. But with his nerd snuggled up to him, he is really content to just listen to Kakashi struggle.

Aizawa watches over the younger group protectively, he knows that Izuku has spent more energy these last couple of days than he has ever spent before. He is amazed that the problem child is only collapsing now. It will be a few hours before Izuku is ready to move again. So he sits against a tree where he can see everyone and make sure his students (read problem children) are safe. Kakashi sits next to him a comforting presence and pulls out an orange book. Aizawa closes his eyes and while his senses are nowhere near the senses of Katsuki or Izuku he can sense the emotions of people he is in contact with. Kakashi sits close to him just barely touching shoulders, but it is enough. Aizawa senses a storm of emotions coming from the other man. There is giddiness, longing, nervousness, disbelief, and underneath all those emotions is fear. Aizawa waits patiently as the man gathers his thoughts and uses the time to study the man. Aizawa hides a small smile in his scarf at the slight peeking looks the other man gives him. Kakashi obviously doesn't realize that Aizawa is studying him. Kakashi sighs and draws a hand down his face, opens his mouth like he wants to say something but closes it with a shake of his head.

Aizawa decides to start a simple conversation with the emotionally stunted man. "Thank you for having my back earlier."

Kakashi jumps a little, startled out of his thoughts, "I will always protect my comrades." Kakashi relaxes seeing what the other man is doing he decides to keep the conversation going, "how do you do it?" There is slight awe in his voice.

Aizawa raises an eyebrow, "do what?"

Kakashi hums while looking at the pack talking with the Shinobi, "you're their teacher, right? No doubt they needed to learn to fight from somewhere. But I don't understand how you teach so many kids without any of them feeling left behind?"

Aizawa hides a small smile, "I didn't fully train them, Izuku, Katsuki, Ace, and Luffy were trained before I met them. Shanks started training the boys when they were 5, I met them two years later while I was interning under Shanks. As for how I train my other students, I have to keep in mind that they are not like me, they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. It's difficult working with so many different power types but they will all grow at their own pace. I can only give them a helping hand, or push them a certain way, but most of the time they take what I teach them and refine it by sparring with each other. Each student has a different way they learn. Izuku and Katsuki are geniuses, they are easy to teach if you can keep their minds working. They grasp the most difficult concepts and apply the knowledge in a way that is appropriate for them. Luffy is battle smart, not on the same level as Izuku and Katsuki, but he is able to shift fighting strategies and incorporate different fighting styles in the middle of a battle. Kirishima, Ashido and Kaminari are a little more difficult to train as their quirks don't leave much room for improvising. Kirishima hardens he is great at defending and brute strength, once I figured that out, we have worked on increasing his endurance. Kaminari is basically a generator while able to discharge the stored electricity. He is great for a 1 verse multiple opponents but almost useless when allies are around." Aizawa smirks, "well that used to be the case, Izuku studied his quirk and came up with a way that he would be able to fight with his comrades without endangering them." Aizawa finishes with a smile.

Kakashi hums, "So what would you do if Naruto was your student?"

Aizawa hums, "assuming everything Katsuki said about his chakra was correct, he has massive reserves, right? So It would be difficult for him to control all of that power. It seems like his education was poor at best, so he probably didn't know he had such large reserves. He only saw kids his age succeeding where he failed, without knowing why. So if he was my student, I would assess where his level of control was and work on controlling larger amounts of chakra first. Basically teaching him in reverse, teach him more chakra intensive Jutsu, then work down from there. Or those copies of his, they take a lot of Chakra, right?"

Kakashi nods, "I can summon 10 at a time before I become too exhausted. Naruto can summon hundreds if not thousands."

"I see, do they all have the same amount of chakra as the original?"

"No, if I were to summon 1 clone the clone would have half my chakra if I summoned 2 clones each of them would have a third of my chakra. So if I summoned 9 clones each one would have a tenth of my chakra." Kakashi explains.

"So don't you think it would be easier to teach a hundred Naruto instead of one." Aizawa hints.

Kakashi blinks, "Uhhh?"

Aizawa sighs, "well a hundred Naruto's would only have 1 percent of his chakra. Therefore, each clone would be able to control a lower chakra intense Jutsu, right?"

Kakashi hums, "It's possible, it wouldn't hurt to try. The problem is the Nine-tails chakra also gets distributed among the clones as well. So it is easier for the fox to try to break a clone's seal or at least weaken it."

Aizawa ponders this information, "I'll ask Izuku if he has any ideas, we can use to prevent that."

Kakashi hums with a nod but doesn't say anything else.

Aizawa has a buzzing feeling in his chest, he has memorized the shape of his own Soul mark. After almost 30 years of searching and wondering when he would find his match, he is surprised to find his match in a fellow teacher. He won't mention it right now, he will wait until the other man is ready to bring it up. They have only known each other for a couple of days after all.

Jiraiya's body jolts alerting the other adults, "There is someone approaching the barrier."

Everyone except Izuku, Katsuki, and Itachi take up defensive stances the Ninja drawing their weapons, Kirishima, Luffy, Ace and Shoto guards the recovering members of their group. Sasuke has his Sharingan blazing spinning irritably. Kakashi exposes his own Sharingan while Aizawa throws his Observation Haki out trying to pinpoint the person approaching the barrier. Izuku tenses in his sleep no doubt sensing the threat, Katsuki tries to calm the Exhausted Nerd.

Izuku's observation Haki never shuts off, always sensing about a mile in all directions even when he is asleep, even when he is completely exhausted. He tenses the moment that 'vile-rotting-death-decay' seemingly pops out of the ground like a snake. He snarls in protectiveness because he has sensed this presence before in his visions, this is no doubt part of the calamity. He sensed this presence this vileness during the War of the Best, and he sensed this presence in All for One. Fuji growls in his den urging his power to revitalize his pup. No matter how strong his host is they are no match for the Calamity right now. Plus it wouldn't do them any good for them to be considered a threat to the Calamity yet, the last thing they need is to start being attacked before they are ready.

Izuku's eyes snap open as he feels Fuji's revitalizing flame coarse through his veins. He feels that disturbing presence getting closer, and he scrambles up immediately shifting, a low rumbling growl leaves his throat as he stares in the direction of the vile-rotting-death-decay. His stance gets increasingly more protective as the presence makes a bee-line for them. Barrier or not he has sensed them and I approaching them faster than he has before.

Katsuki and the rest of the pack urge the others to get on Fuji, "Jiraiya remove the barrier when we are boarded, we need to get into the sky now." Katsuki orders as he picks up the still unconscious Uchiha using his explosions to take them onto the wolf. Sasuke follows with a powerful leap and Katsuki hands the younger Uchiha his brother with a glare and a snarl. Katsuki does a quick headcount and gives Izuku the signal when everyone is accounted for.

He sits back with a breath of relief as they take to the air flying above the clouds with a couple of OFA-powered beats of Fuji's massive wings. "Izuku sensed a piece of the calamity heading right for us."

"Wouldn't it have been better if we took out the threat now?" Jiraiya asked.

"I don't think so, yes there is a chance we could have taken it down, but there is an equal chance that we would not have been successful. If the calamity knows we are amassing a force to fight it, it could attack us before we are ready to face it." Katsuki reasons.

"So what do we do?" Lee asks.

"We avoid it, luckily the Nerd and Fuji know what it feels like so we can stay ahead of the thing following us. As long as we stay off the land, we should avoid detection." Katsuki grumbles.

Izuku growls out a long rumbling sound.

Katsuki's ears twitch and his face morphs into a thoughtful expression, "The nerd said the thing following us is plant-like, we need to find somewhere the plant thing can't traverse through. He believes it is using the nearby trees to track our presence."

Shikamaru folds his hands in a thinking pose, "troublesome, but that makes sense. It didn't find us so fast when we were resting after the fight with Nii. It was probably tracking Hidan and Kakazu and only came to investigate when Hidan disappeared."

"So we need to avoid areas that have trees around us?" Naruto summarizes.

"Yes exactly, but we need to stay near the Hidden stone village in order to find Son Goku and Kokuo." Katsuki states.

Shanks interrupts the planning, "Katsuki, do you still have the comms set that links us to Nezu?"

Katsuki nods and pushes the button on his collar-like necklace, activating the visor and earpiece. "Nezu? Are you listening?"

"Bakugo? What a surprise! Yes, I am here. What do you need?" Nezu excitedly speaks into the headset.

Katsuki looks at Shanks and Aizawa, "Nezu is there, activate your comms set." He pushes the button and notifies Nezu that Shanks and Aizawa are going to talk with him.

Shanks tells the mouse-like principal the events of the last couple of days while also telling him about finding 4 of the Spirit Gods. Izuku grumbles something by the twinge of the growl he is not happy about it.

Katsuki sighs, "you sure nerd?" Izuku huffs out in response, "The nerd thinks we should wrap this up in a couple of days before the Calamity can really track us down. The massive group we are traveling with right now is going to keep attracting attention."

"The training islands are prepared, and the underground the class has been finished assuming there are enough students and a teacher ready for it."

"Shouldn't be a problem we have 8 teens and 5 adults," Aizawa drawls.

Jiraiya coughs, "Actually I am going to stay here for a little while longer. I will be your eyes and ears here. I will also reach out to the other Jinchuriki and keep an eye on them."

Aizawa nods, "correction 4 adults."

"Thanks for the update, we will plan more when you get back. I will set up a pick up for two days' time. Let me know if anything changes."

"Yes, Sir," Shanks confirms and presses the button on his comms to cut to connection.

Katsuki digs through his bag and pulls out two chokers like necklaces and hands them to Jiraiya, "Here, these are the comms set that is programmed to our frequency. Give one to your Hokage when you report to her, so she has a way to contact us if she needs us. It will also keep her informed and give us a way to contact her if the situation worsens on our end."

Jiraiya nods, "how do they work?"

Katsuki explains how they work while giving him a copy of the specs sheet Izuku developed, he also notifies him that they are connected to a few people they have in the Grandline as they are all on the same Frequency. "There is always at least one pack member that has the comms activated at all times, so we are always reachable. There is also a small map on the visor that tracks the headsets whether they are on or not. In case someone hasn't checked in. Also, this function is connected to the One Piece so as long as there is one in this world, we can still come back without locking onto a Spirit God."

"Impressive," Kakashi whispers wishing he had something like this during his ANBU days.

Katsuki snorts, "This is nothing compared to what the Nerd can do. The Nerd and Kato developed these as prototypes for the pack in case we were sent on missions separately. We would always be able to help each other out if it was needed. When Fuji gave us his warning, they spent 30 hours straight making a comms set with an unlimited range on a closed unhackable frequency."

Luffy chuckles at the shocked looks on the Ninjas' faces. "Izuku is a genius."

Katsuki smirks, "Nah, he is just a Nerd. Trust me, once we get back to U.A. he is going to want to spar with all of you to see how our world affects your powers. He is going to Nerd out over support gear to maximize your potential. While looking for weaknesses and minimizing risks."

Ace laughs, "Blasty will be lucky if he can pull him out of the workshop."

"Fuck you, Matchstick." Katsuki rages small explosions popping from his palms.

Shoto chuckles, "I can just see Midoriya and Kato geeking out over blueprints and the analysis of each of the Shinobi."

Luffy and Kirishima laugh while nodding in agreement. Kaminari and Ashido while they have never completely witnessed a tech binge before, can see the truth in the image Shoto painted for them.

Katsuki pouts, "I'll drag him out of there if I need to. The Nerd forgets to take care of himself if he has his mind on a project. Luckily Kato is more reasonable and responsible than the Nerd."

"I'm not so sure about that, Blasty" Ace smirks. "Remember when they were preparing for the entrance exam?"

Katsuki's face pales, he remembers that time vividly. "No, not again," there is a panicked edge to his voice.

Naruto looks between Katsuki and Ace, "what… uh… what happened?" Suddenly nervous.

Ace laughs in response to Katsuki's panicked reaction, "we met Kato in Middle School, he told us he was Quirkless and Izuku claimed him when he stopped him from being Bullied. For three years we trained together and Izuku and Kato became fast friends bonding over their love for tinkering. Sadly, no matter how hard Kato trained he would not have made it into the Hero's course. But his passion was in designing and creating support items for heroes to minimize exploitable weakness while amplifying the hero's quirks. So they planned and built an arsenal of prototypes to present to the U.A. support department so Kato can enter U.A. they spent three weeks with minimal breaks for sleep and food making different support items. First, they made Katsuki's explosion gauntlets to show a personalized support item. Then they worked on smaller general support items like reinforced shock-absorbing gear to protect heroes from falls, Comms equipment, heat-seeking capture weapons. They found a way to put Izuku's flames in a container as portable heal packs of varied strength, from basic first aid to healing fatal injuries. They even made a watch that monitors the durability of your equipment. And that is only the ones they have shown us."

"It was complete madness," Katsuki grumbles.

Kakashi and Shikamaru are the only Ninjas that do not look terrified, in fact, they look manically intrigued. Shikamaru because just by hearing some of this equipment he can see how they would make the job of a Ninja easier. Let's face it, anything that can make the Lazy Ninja Lazier, well Shikamaru is fully on board.

Kakashi listen raptly with a look of longing, how many of his comrade could have escaped death if they had even a fraction of the gear Izuku and Kato have made and designed. He has no doubt something like harnessing the healing capabilities of Izuku's flames would be beneficial to their future war. The number of Civilians and allies that would at least have a chance to survive a devastating attack. He can picture giving these heal packs to field medics to administer to the injured to give them a fighting chance until a healer can reach them.

After a few hours of chatter Izuku starts to descend out of the clouds, the vile-rotting-death-decay has left his range a long time ago. As Izuku breaks the cloud coverage he scans the ground for a rocky-like area. Somewhere there is no vegetation, he finds a cliff face of solid rock and no trees or grass for at least a few hundred yards. It will have to do; Fuji perks up as he senses one of his Kin.

"Son Goku."

Izuku trills an exciting sound as he descends and lands on the cliff face several feet away from a red-hair man. Izuku trills again to gain the man's attention.

The man slowly turns around eyes red and glowing, "It's been a long time Fuji."

"Son Goku, brother," Fuji growls out. "We need your help; the Calamities are threatening my world. I can not save it by myself."

"I sense Kurama, Shukaku, Isobu, and Matatabi with you brother." Son Goku smirks.

"It has been a thousand years since we lost to the calamity and ended up scattered. The calamity has grown stronger since then. I need all of my Kin to help and this time it won't be just us. We have an entire world of Superpowered Beings, plus the good of the Grandline, and the Ninja of this world to help. There is a promising future where you won't be hated against." Fuji pleads.

"For you brother, I'll fight for you. No one would miss us. Kokuo is close by I will tell her that it is time we leave this greedy world behind. The Jinchruiki are only hailed in times of war as weapons capable of decimating armies. I will not fight another war for the greedy." Son bellows. He shouts out, "KOKOUO!"

A tall man with a red Kasa and red plated armor steps out onto the ledge, "What is it, Son?"

"It's time to go." Son points in Fuji's location.

Kokuo follows Son's gaze and as his eyes land on Fuji, they start tearing up in disbelief. "Fuji, brother? Is that really you? We thought you died!"

"It is me, Koko-Chan." Fuji reassures, "I have come to ask for your assistance once more."

The man wipes his eyes, "of Course brother. I see you have Kura-kun, Shu-kun, Tobi- Chan, and Iso-Kun. With us, two included only Chomei, Seiken and Gyuki are left."

"Yes, my pup has saved the others from Akatsuki. Fenrir is also with us." Fuji informs, "how are your host's seals. are you devouring them?"

"I have been sealed in my host for 40 years, I am not devouring his soul, but we could use a better seal," Son informs.

"I have been in my host for 15 years; I can use a less painful seal. I have been protecting my host from the negative effects of a faulty seal."

"I will have my Pup and the Toad fix your seals as soon as possible." Fuji states, "For now we must move so hop on and reacquaint yourselves to the others. My pups pack will fill you in on where we are going."

With dual nods, both possessed Jinchuriki follow Fuji's orders and hop onto the wolf's back. Fuji takes back to the sky looking for a safe place for them to bunk for the night. Son and Kokuo settle on the back of the wolf listening to everyone introduce themselves. To the shock of the two new arrivals not a single look of disgust or negative feeling coming from any of the newly introduced people. An Ash Blonde that has Fenrir's markings and chains start to explain everything they know of Fuji's warning and Izuku's visions. They can picture the future after the war, being free and traveling the landscapes of the different world. Kokuo can wait to run the fields and feel the wind on her face. Son longs for the many volcanic mountain ranges he can protect. And they decide they will help Fuji and his Pup achieve this future where Spirit God, Hero, Ninja, and Pirate can live free.