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

46. Chapter 46: Returns

Chapter 46:

Returns

Summary:

The pack returns to Japan, Nighteye doesn't meet them with the detective. Nezu tells Izuku and Katsuki about overhaul and a possible hostage situation involving a little girl with a rewind quirk.

Itachi's moving, the gentle breeze flowing through his hair. The sensation of floating confuses him, he is on something soft, and warm, comfortable in a way he hasn't felt since before the Uchiha massacre. He racks his brain for anything that explains these sensations. Did he die? Is he in the afterlife, succumbed to his illness, or perhaps killed by his younger brother's hands? There is a sense of peace that fills his being with every breath. Huh? That's strange, if he was dead then why is he breathing? He focuses on his breathing, there is no pain, no almost wheezing that usually accompanies every rattled breath as oxygen fights for space where his lungs are filled with Chakra. Huh? Strange. There is no cure for what he is ailed by. The greatest doctors have put a definitive expiration date to his life, that date is fast approaching. Could they have been wrong? He doesn't think so, the one time he ran into Tsunade, even she couldn't find a way to heal him. But perhaps she didn't want to consider he is a clan murdering, S-class rogue Ninja. Even on the run from her demons, she was still loyal to The Leaf, so it wouldn't surprise Itachi if she wanted to watch him die instead of curing him.

He figuratively shakes his head; he has been healed by medical Chakra before. Not surprisingly, living a life that hunts the Tailed Beasts would lead to multiple near-death injuries. There was always a sense of foreign chakra in his system, regardless of the medic's skill. Always something like a signature that the Medic can never fully keep out of their healing. But he scans himself, searching for that signature, maybe gets a clue as to who is with him. What could a healer want from him that they would deem him being alive better than him dying? Nothing good that is for sure. He is a murderer, a Kin-slayer, all the good that was in his heart at one point gone with his list of crimes. Sure he is hard on himself; he knows he had to commit some of these crimes to keep his brother safe. But surely, the murder of children, who didn't have anything to do with Danzo's schemes could have lived. Or perhaps the Uchiha who didn't awaken their Sharingan could have been spared. Right? No good man could have done the things he did. No matter the reasons. If he was a good man, he could have questioned the orders. Gone to the Hokage and verify the extermination orders. Instead, he didn't, he believed the Hokage's signature was real, he believed the evidence because he was young and naïve.

There are muffled voices around him, too quiet to make anything out. But he listens tries to find out what these people might want from him. He throws his senses out, searching for anyone he might know. He feels a familiar and unfamiliar presence around him. Kakashi, Gai, and Jiraiya but don't feel malicious. They don't seem to be focusing on him like they would if he was a prisoner. He sure as hell doesn't feel like a prisoner, not with how comfortable and peaceful he is. Which still doesn't make any sense to him, if he was captured by Leaf Ninja surely, he would be chained up and Chakra sealed off. But his chakra is calm, flowing gently through his body like a lazy river, rather than the over flooded canals where the excess carves new paths to support the raging water. So not a prisoner then.

There's a Hyuga with the group, sitting close to him. But strangely not in a way that is oppressive or threatening. Strange, the Hyuga clan despises the Uchiha clan. Every Hyuga that Itachi has run into has always met him with gazes of distrust and hatred. But this Hyuga, whoever it is, doesn't feel anymore on guard than normal levels of Shinobi training. Next is a mini version of Gai's signature, weak almost civilian level chakra reserves, but the body is strong a master without the use for Chakra. Interesting. Must be Gai's team then. Then the bright, overflowing vastness that is common with Jinchuriki shines at least 5 times brighter than a normal Jinchuriki. Even the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, with access to not only the beasts all but unlimited reserves, but his own vast reserves as the Last Uzumaki seems to pale in comparison to what Itachi is sensing right now. Like he is surrounded by 3 maybe 4 Narutos. But that is not possible, Itachi has watched the Jinchuriki long enough to know even when the teen uses Shadow Clones his Chakra doesn't increase it only spreads out. So, he can conclude he is around multiple Jinchuriki.

Lost in the study of the vast chakra, he almost misses the strong, quick flash of lightning-tinged chakra. Again this confuses him, his brother's chakra shouldn't be near these Ninja. Sasuke was with the Snake the last he checked in on him. So what is he doing here, with these unknown presences? He focuses his sensing to block out everyone but his brother, studying for signs of distress. But Sasuke's chakra is calm, peaceful. Different almost, clean, untainted from the Snake's curse mark. As far as Itachi knows there is no known method to remove the curse mark. Except, perhaps with the sealing sword, the Sword of Totsuka. Itachi's plan was to push Sasuke into using the curse and then removing it with his Susanoo, but it seems someone has removed the seal already. But who?

Flashes of green, and mist, peace, warmth, and healing flash through his mind. Huh? That's right, there is a group of strangers that have intercepted the Akatsuki in capturing the tailed Beasts. This group has killed at least 4 of its members. So the strangers have captured him, why? They have his brother too? also at least 3 of the Jinchuriki. For what reasons, should he be worried? He can't get a reading on these strangers, because they don't have Chakra. But there is something, an Aura perhaps that surrounds the strangers. He can't tell who they are because he can't put faces or names to the colors. But the Auras are calm, controlled, almost lazy. So Itachi can assume they are not on guard. Maybe one of these people saved him?

A memory of sorts, chasing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki into the forest. Separating him from his partner. Kakashi, Gai, and an unknown black-haired male intercept his partner's attempts to follow him. He leaves to chase the Jinchuriki, but there is someone else. Someone with Green Hair, Emerald eyes, luring him somewhere. A comment, "relax Uchiha, your eyes won't work on me." They didn't, not for lack of trying. The teen only entered into Tsukuyomi because he wanted to. Then the teen was able to take control and show Itachi images and memories that haven't happened yet, but a possibility of what could? A possibility that regardless of Itachi's plans, whether ending in success or failure, won't change anything. The world is still doomed and Sasuke will still perish with it. But there is a new vision, with it a new hope where he doesn't have to die to save his brother. A future of peace Itachi believed he would never see. A future where he can have a family again, maybe not in the same way as before the Uchiha Massacre, and maybe he won't deserve it. But maybe, with enough time he will learn to forgive himself and accept this new family.

He remembers following the green-haired teen to a clearing, his brother raging and struggling under an equally raging Ash-blond teen. A Hyuga stands by looking exasperated but not interfering, but also not afraid to interfere. He makes eye contact with his brother, but he doesn't sense the rage or sense of vengeance that usually plagues his brother. Before he can question why his brother is pinned, his lungs contract and flutter painfully and he breaks into a coughing fit. He tries to hide his coughing and choke them off, but the Green-Haired teen notices the fit. Most of his attention is on trying to breathe so he only captures bits and pieces of the green-haired teen and the Hyuga talking. Something about using the Hyuga to shut off his chakra while the green-haired teen heals the damage. He feels like he is being stabbed before a wave of relief and calm spreads through his body. The agony that has become a faithful parasite lessens as time goes by. What feels like hours of slow mending finally the agony and long used pain fade into nothing. His eyes feel heavy, and sleep pulls on him, caressing him to fall into its embrace. Who is he to ignore such sweet whispers, when his only complaint to sleep is the pain that no longer exists. He succumbs.

As his brain puts together the missing pieces of his memories, he can feel the warming rays of the sun on his skin. He takes a deep breath, happy that he can without coughing. His eyes flutter as the voices get a little clearer.

"When… wake up?... it's been… hours" the voice is familiar but lacks the condescending tone the voice usually has.

"He should be waking up soon." An unknown voice, but soothing and calm. Patient with his little brother.

Another voice, "should be any moment, now. His breathing and heart rate have been steadily increasing as he comes to awareness."

The voices get clearer as he lays there. He tries to open his eyes and he can feel them fluttering. His fingers twitch as the fog of sleep lifts off him. He opens his eyes and gasps. He doesn't have the Sharingan activated because there is no pull on his reserves, but he can see. He was practically blind without using his Sharingan, but he can see clearly. The blue sky closer to him than ever possible, the clouds massive and comfortable looking. He tilts his head to get a look at his surroundings. He sits up in shock as he realizes the sensation of floating, he was experiencing, is because they are actually flying. He moves to try and stand but something pulls on his arm.

"Stop, Uchiha. It is a long way down if you fall." An amused voice sounds.

Itachi snaps his gaze to the hand on his arm and follows the orange scar-like markings up the arm to the face of the person who grounds him. He faces red eyes similar to the Sharingan but different as there is no power in them like the Sharingan eyes. The hair of the teen is Ash-blond and spiky. This close Itachi can see the animal-like ears that are hidden in the teen's spikes. He can sense power coming from this teen, but he is unable to pinpoint exactly what it is. He settles as the grip on his arm loosens. He looks around, the other strangers and Leaf Ninja all look relatively safe. His eyes find his brother, Sasuke is engaged in a conversation with his excitable teammate. And he has a small real smile on his face, black eyes soft and fond listening to Naruto ramble about their time separated.

He relaxes completely, eyes searching for the green-haired teen. He doesn't find him and for some reason, he wants to panic. Did the teen get injured because he was focusing on healing Itachi? The amount of healing Itachi needed was enough to give Tsunade chakra exhaustion. Could the teen have exhausted himself to fatal levels just to give Itachi a chance? Guilt floods through him, Itachi isn't worth the life of someone so selfless that they would heal a murderer like him. The hand on his arm grips him slightly, forcing him out of his panic. Itachi forces out a choked breath, "where is he?"

The teen holding him hums, "The nerd? We are on his back."

Itachi makes a sound of confusion, nothing makes sense. How can they all be on the teen's back? A growl rumbles through the air, it makes Itachi shiver. The teen holding him tilts his head with a concentrated look on his face. He hums, his eyebrow twitches. The teen sighs and nods his head in understanding. He looks at Itachi with burning red eyes, protective, threatening. "We will be landing in a moment. Then the nerd will explain everything to you."

Itachi nods because there is nothing else, he can do. He can't jump off whatever they are flying on, an animal for sure. Summon perhaps, not likely. Kakashi has dogs, Jiraiya has toads, and if he remembers correctly Gai has turtles. He doesn't know what the other ninjas have as summoner contracts, but he has never come across someone who has a wolf contract. Also, the wolf is massive, with wings and multiple tails. He thinks Tailed Beast but none of the known Tailed Beasts resemble a wolf. The teen next to him doesn't look like he will give Itachi the answers even if he did know what questions to ask. So he sits and tries to get his thoughts in order, but everything is just too confusing, Itachi thinks this all has something to do with the visions the green-haired teen showed him.

Soon he feels the sensation of falling, slowly, gently descending from beyond the clouds. Looking out into the distance he sees they are heading to the mountains. There are no trees or vegetation to be seen as they head to a cave. Approaching the mouth of the cave their ride lands softly on the ground. The ash-blond teen nudges Itachi's shoulder tilting his head, "Come on, we are bunking here for the night." Itachi nods and accepts the teen's hand to help pull him up. Itachi takes a moment to steady his legs once he feels like he isn't going to fall he leaps off the animal landing softly on the ground. He turns back toward the animal that was carrying them, wanting to thank the summon for their service.

The words die on his tongue as misty green envelopes what Itachi can now see is a massive wolf. Instead of smoke that is common with summon departures the mist shifts and shrinks, condensing comes to mind. Until a green-haired teen is standing in the wolf's position. The teen's eyes are closed, Itachi studies the teen taking in the features he failed to notice due to his blindness. The teen has massive wings protruding from his back. Eight flame-like tails flick and sway behind him. Green ears that appear to be hidden in the teen's hair twitch, listening for anything around him. The teen's elongated canine teeth peak over his bottom lip. His nose twitches as he takes in the scents no one else can smell. There is a tension in the teen's posture that fades as the seconds go by without picking up a threat. The teen opens his eyes as he breaths out a sigh of relief. His eyes scan the people around him, cataloging for injuries and presence. He deems everything ok, with a blinding smile.

"He won't find us here, there is not a single tree anywhere near here." He ponders for a moment, "I don't know his full range, but we should put up a barrier just in case. We need to plan our next move as we are too big of a target."

"Nerd, you need to rest." The ash-blond orders with a glare.

The green-haired teen flashes his eyes to the teen, "Kacchan, you know I can't. at least not at the moment. Once we figure out what we are going to do from here I will rest."

The teen named Kacchan sighs, "fine, once we settle in you are not moving for anything. Got it!"

The green-haired teen laughs softly, "but Kacchan, what if I need to relieve myself?" he asks with a teasing glint to his eyes.

Kacchan sputters, and glares, growling out something under his breath, and stomps into the cave. The green-haired teen follows with a bright laugh. Itachi is confused, so he follows after them to check out the cave. The cave must have at some point been a den for bears because the inside is massive, with more than enough space to accommodate their group of over twenty people. As the last people trickle in Jiraiya lays down some strong barrier seals. Kakashi opens a scroll that has dried firewood in it, two ravens and Sasuke takes the bundles of wood over to the center so they can light a fire. One of the ravens' arms turns into fire as he lights the wood. Itachi already knows these strangers don't have Chakra but what do they have that allows them to turn into fire? The Ash-blond pulls out pots and pans while searching through the ninja's rations to make something for them to eat. Some of the scrolls contain meat that the ninja must have hunted during this mission, along with vegetables and some wild herbs. The ash-blond sniffs and studies the herbs for safety. The other ninja and strangers help out placing sleeping mats.

Itachi stands there confused and unsure if he should help anywhere, he watches his brother. Sasuke is wrestling with Naruto to put up a tent, yelling at his teammate for being a Dobe and not being able to set up the tent properly. Naruto parries with a smile and a laugh, saying even on missions he never set up his tent always preferring to sleep under the stars. Itachi thinks that might be the case now, but not always, knowing how Naruto grew up it is possible no one taught him how to properly place his tent. Maybe they never issued him one when he became a Genin. Naruto maybe never questioned it because he didn't want to seem like he didn't know. Itachi pinpoints the exact moment Sasuke comes to the same conclusion. Sasuke's eyes soften as he slowly explains how to put up the tent properly. His brother is slightly distracted keeping half his attention on Itachi, every time Itachi moves or twitches a muscle Sasuke looks like he is going to pounce. Itachi wonders why Sasuke hasn't approached him yet, but he figures it has something to do with the green-haired teen.

Itachi settles against the wall of the cave, watching as the group sets everything up and settles in a massive circle-like shape. The green-haired teen looks around the group waiting for everyone to settle down. He clears his throat while looking intently at Itachi, "while I know you are dying for answers, I believe we should introduce ourselves first."

Itachi nods.

Izuku smiles, "I am Izuku Midoriya, I am from Japan. I share my soul with Fuji the Ten-Tailed Spirit Wolf. This is my human form, I have a half form and a full transformation that you have seen already."

Itachi nods again.

Before Izuku can introduce the ash-blond he gets interrupted by the teen, "I'm Katsuki Bakugo." He glares at Izuku, "I share my Soul with Fenrir the Warrior Wolf. I can also cause explosions from my hands." He demonstrates popping explosions from his hands, "my sweat is laced with Nitroglycerin."

The person next to Katsuki goes next, "I'm Ace. I control all fire, turn into fire, and create fire." He demonstrates this by turning his arm into fire. He pulls on the flames from the campfire to absorb into him and relights the flames.

A red-and-white-haired teen goes next, "I'm Shoto Todoroki, the right side of my body can summon and shape ice." He put his right hand on the ground and causes a small amount of ice to form around him. "The left side of my body can generate flames." He places his left hand on the ground to melt the Ice that he created.

There is a raven that looks like he wants to bounce around as he smiles blindingly. "I'm Luffy, I am a rubber man." He demonstrates this by simply stretching his cheek farther than humanly possible. "Being made of rubber I am immune to all blunt attacks. I can contract and expand my muscles to increase agility, speed, and strength."

"I'm Kirishima. I harden my skin to become an unbreakable shield." The red-haired teen smiles while hardening his arm to look like the jagged edges of a mountain.

A yellow-haired teen goes next, "I'm Kaminari I can generate up to 2.5 million volts of electricity. While I can expel all this in one burst, this amount of electricity fries my brain. To control it I use a series of lightning rod spikes that my lightning is attracted to." He lets a small amount of electricity spark off him.

A female with pink skin introduces herself, "I am Mina Ashido, I can create and control the viscosity of Acid from my hands and feet."

Another blonde goes, "I am Sabo, Ace and Luffy are my adopted brothers. I can summon and control iron particles." He demonstrates this by allowing the sword he has to dissolve into a pile of Iron sand. The particles travel to his hand and wrap around the outstretched hand. He reforms his sword from the Iron Particles and sheaths it at his side.

Itachi nods, which explains how they have managed to kill four of the Akatsuki. Even though they do not have Chakra they have something else that gives them abilities they can use almost unlimitedly here. Itachi will ask his questions after everyone has been introduced.

The next to introduce themselves are the Jinchuriki, first is Gaara the holder of Shukaku. Gaara tells them he is here because Izuku offered him a place where he can be loved and not looked at with disdain. Naruto introduces himself along with the Nine-tails. He informs that the Hokage put him on this mission indefinitely. A girl with brown hair and purple marks under her eyes informs the group that she is the holder for the three-tails. She explains that during the Third Shinobi war the mist captured her and made her into a Jinchuriki with a faulty seal. She tells them she was the teammate to Kakashi and used him to commit suicide. Izuku cuts in and explains how he brought her back to life by using Hidan's body after the teen destroyed the man's soul. Itachi was young when Rin died, and he never understood the full story. He wonders how it is possible to bring back someone who has been dead for over 15 years back to life. Izuku answers his question, "because she committed suicide, she was bound to this world without passing on. Since Fuji is the Spirit God of souls, he is capable of manipulating the souls that have not passed on yet. We didn't know if it would work and she almost died a second time, but in the end, we were able to resurrect her and reseal the three tails into her. That is why the tailed beast dispersed before Tobi could capture him." Ah, that makes more sense then, Itachi thinks, though it is still hard to believe there is such power out there. The two-tails Jinchuriki introduces herself as Nii Yugito. The four-tails introduce themselves as Roshi and the Five tails introduce themselves as Han.

The members of team Gai introduce themselves, Neji Hyuga, TenTen, and Rock Lee. Along with their specialties. It is surprising to Itachi that Neji is a branch member of the Hyuga but his proficiency with his clans Jutsu surpasses any main branch member Itachi has worked with. TenTen is from a civilian family but is a master in Kenjutsu, while her teammate Lee does not have access to Chakra but is a master in Taijutsu. Itachi believes that Lee will surpass Gai in Taijutsu in a few years. Sasuke introduces himself as an Uchiha, tells them of his training under the Snake sage and his fight with Izuku. Also telling the group that his curse seal was removed by Izuku during their fight.

The adults go next Kakashi the Copy nin, former Anbu, and before Rin was resurrected the last surviving member of Team Minato. He is the Current Jonin for team seven, consisting of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Gai introduces himself as the beautiful green beast of Konoha, master in Taijutsu and the eight inner gates. Team leader to Team Gai, consisting of Neji, TenTen, and Lee. Jiraiya introduces himself as the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. One of the three Legendary Sannin.

The two unknown adults start to introduce themselves; the red-haired male introduces himself as Shanks, originally from the Grandline but was shipwrecked in Japan a decade ago. He is a hero that teaches hand to hand combatives at U.A. he tells them that with his sword he can control Red Lightning.

The hobo looking Raven introduces himself as Shota Aizawa, teacher to class 1-A. He has the ability to erase abilities called Quirks, these abilities are native to his world, while he has tested the efficiency on Devil Fruits (native to the Grandline) only weakens the devil fruits not erasing them.

Itachi Introduces himself as a former leaf ninja, A former Akatsuki member. He tells them the third Hokage gave him an undercover mission to infiltrate the Akatsuki and report when the Akatsuki were planning on Attacking the leaf for Naruto. He explains the events of the Uchiha Massacre his plan to give his brother his eyes. He tells them he couldn't think of another way to keep Sasuke safe, so he accepted the mission from Danzo. He tells his brother they will continue talking about this later in private. Sasuke looks like he wants to pout and argue but he concedes to Itachi and nods to his brother.

Izuku smiles softly at the group, "Now that everyone has been introduced, along with our powers. I think it's about time I tell you everything. Starting from the beginning." Izuku breathes in and out to calm himself as all the attention focuses on him. He tells them about finding a fruit on the beach and consuming it to get Fuji. He tells them about his training with Katsuki, Ace, and Luffy. He tells them about the dreams he started getting as he got stronger with Fuji. They didn't make sense at the time, but he wrote them down anyway. He tells them a bit about his world how it is divided into Heroes and Villains. He tells them that they are studying to be Heroes, that he is a hero, and it is his job to save everyone he can. He tells them about another ability he has that he can share with Katsuki, and because of this ability Fuji manipulated the Soulmate ability to Awaken Katsuki's spirit animal. Fuji did this because they will need all the help, they can get for a threat none of them will stand a chance against. He explains Fuji's warning about how the Calamity has been pulling strings in multiple worlds to gain power. Here in the elemental Nations, the Calamity was behind the warring Clans Era. The events of major wars caused by the Calamity manipulating events to keep the ninja fighting themselves so they wouldn't become strong enough to fight the Calamity. In the Grandline the calamity rules the world disguised as Nobles, forcing Marines and Pirates to fight against each other to keep their powers even but weaker than the Calamity. Even in his world, Calamity is the driving force behind some of the major villains. All for One a puppet to the Calamity able to destroy countries on his own, a pawn to collect powers and keep the strength of the heroes occupied until the calamity has gotten strong enough to launch a full-out assault.

He goes into his dreams, explaining how he knows what he does about everyone and everything. Explains how he met them all, the feelings of pack, and to protect pack forged from fighting a threat that is capable of wiping all their existences out together. While the individual battles faded overtime after he woke up, the feelings of pack are so deep-seated, he full-heartedly believes they are pack already. He vows that he will protect his pack to his Dying breath. He tells them the different visions, what happens if they are missing any of the key players. Victory doesn't happen in these visions, but Izuku's determined he will stop at nothing to get everyone they need and more. He has the fates of three worlds on his shoulders, and while Itachi wishes and hopes they could save this world as well he understands where Izuku is coming from.

The calamity has been here since before Sage's Era, the visions Itachi has seen of this world, prove it is not possible to save this world. Even if they win against the Calamity, the damage to the planet itself can not be reversed. The chakra that flows through every living thing is depleted eventually everyone in the Elemental Nations will die a slow agonizing death. There will be no more live births, no more chakra for livestock or farming. No food if they don't die of Chakra depletion then Starvation. And while Itachi wants to save everyone he understands it is not possible. Most will die in the war coming up, that much is for certain, others won't believe the threat exists until it is too late. So far, their Grand Army is maybe 100 people, that is not enough to convince a world that is sworn to be enemies to work together. But Itachi will help save who they can maybe redeem himself in the eyes of his fallen Clan members by helping the one who saved him.

Izuku finishes his explanation with the vision of victory and rebuilding. He tells them the Ninja, Heroes, and Pirates live in relative peace, reforming the world to be fair to each party. The Spirit Gods are free to roam the world and find places they can settle down. He answers the questions of leadership the Ninja throws his way. Izuku doesn't falter, with the near destruction of his world the old government falls with it. They use a council of representatives to be the voice of each group, even numbers of representatives for the different factions. Ninja, pirate, hero working and coexisting together. He tells them it's not perfect there are still threats to peace and people that will never be able to adjust but they work around these obstacles and learn and find new ways to keep everyone happy.

The group's questions die out as they soak in the information, Izuku breathes out a croaking breath. Katsuki gives the teen a bottle of water to soothe the teen's dry throat. Izuku flashes Katsuki a blinding smile while thanking the teen for taking care of him. Katsuki blushes and turns his head away with a grumble. Izuku settles down and turns determined green glowing eyes onto the group, "Now that everyone is caught up to speed, we need to make a plan."

Shikamaru sighs, "troublesome." His fingers tented together to think over all the information he received.

Kakashi hums he knew all this information is allowed to read the scroll of memories Inochi complied when he walked through the Greenette's mind. "There are still three Jinchuriki we need to find."

Izuku nods, "yes but I don't think it is wise to hunt them right now. The calamity already knows we are here. They don't know our plans, or our abilities but I don't want to chance them finding out about us. If they find out, we are collecting the Spirit Gods to amass an army they may attack us sooner before we are prepared."

Itachi hums, "Kisame and I was headed back to the hideout when you intercepted us. We were ordered to pause our advance on The Four-tails. I am not sure how long this pause will last."

Izuku nods, "assuming the other Akatsuki members were close to their targets it would take some time for them all to return. Itachi, do you know which member was assigned to which target?"

"Of the remaining Jinchuriki, the six-tails is being pursued by Pain. Kakazu was supposed to Capture the Seven-tails after the capture of the two-tails. The Eight-tails was originally supposed to be caught by Orochimaru, but he abandoned the Akatsuki after he failed to get my eyes. Kisame volunteered to capture him. My target is the Nine-tails, I would always send out a letter to the third whenever we were assigned to capture him. After the third died my letters went to Jiraiya." Itachi explains.

"Is that why you showed up on my mission to retrieve Tsunade?" Naruto exclaims.

"Yes, though I was counting on the Sage to stop us." Itachi explains, "I needed to make it convincing that I was pursuing you. Sasuke jumping in gave a convenient distraction even if it was unintentional."

Jiraiya hums, "that explains why I kept getting letters informing me of the Akatsuki's approach. Though I never assumed it was you Itachi, I thought the letters were coming from my spies as they never sign their reports in the case they are intercepted." Jiraiya bows, "thank you, Itachi. Your information helped me keep my Godson safe."

Itachi nods and accepts the gratitude. "You have a way to get to the remaining Jinchuriki if they are being attacked?"

"Yes," Izuku pulls out the Medallion. "With this Medallion I can hear the distress levels of the Spirit gods. We used it to come here when I heard Shukaku screaming in agony, Kurama was enraged so the Medallion brought us to Kurama where I flew to save Gaara. When Kakazu and Hidan were attacking Matatabi I heard her cry for help." He studies the Medallion, "even in Japan I can hear them if they are being attacked. I will know if the Akatsuki move to pursue the others."

"We shouldn't depend on that alone," Katsuki grumbles.

"That is true Kacchan, we could have been late to Save Gaara. Since we are still students we need to be approved for missions. It took a day to get the mission approved and head here. If the others are attacked, we face the chance of not making it in time." Izuku ponders. "Is there a way for the Tailed beasts to Communicate with each other?"

Naruto hums, "Kurama just informed me of a subspace where the Tailed Beasts are telepathically connected. Would that work?"

Izuku hums, "it should I think all the tailed Beasts in here will be needed to convince them to seek shelter." He looks at Jiraiya, "do you have a way to send messages and items to Tsunade?"

"Yes, the Hokage has a summons Anchor seal tied into my toads. I can summon them here and they will reverse themselves to the Hokage's office." Jiraiya informs.

"Good," Izuku rummages through his pack and pulls out a headset, "give this to her with the instructions of how it works. I need to find out if my plan is possible before I go through with it. Tell her to wear it as soon as she gets this message."

Jiraiya takes the items and summons a toad, a messenger toad pops into existence and leaves with Jiraiya's message in another puff of smoke. Izuku leans back and turns his headset on, he gives another set to Itachi, Kakashi, and Gai and tells them to turn them on. He leans back and waits for Tsunade to follow his instructions.

It takes a few moments before Izuku can hear static on the other end, "Tsunade?"

"What is the meaning of this brat?" Tsunade growls.

"I have Jiraiya, Kakashi, Itachi, and Gai on the channel. I need to go through some of my plans before I put it in motion." Izuku states.

"Well, get on with it." Tsunade orders.

"I have a feeling the Calamity is watching us, with the size of our group we can no longer move undetected. We will be leaving this world no later than tomorrow. However, we do not have three of the tailed beasts. The Eight-tails is relatively safe at the moment. But the Six and Seven-tails are roaming free." Izuku begins.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Tsunade Interrupts.

"I need to know if it is possible if they can hide in the leaf. If you are afraid of being attacked, I can teleport to you at a moment's notice. If you read the instruction packet you received with this headset, it will provide you a way to send out an S.O.S. that will connect to my headset, and I can be in the Leaf in seconds with my entire pack along with the other Jinchuriki to protect you all." Izuku informs.

"Are you out of your mind! The casualties of having every tailed beast in the village fighting would be cataclysmic! How will we heal the injured in this scenario?" Tsunade screeches.

"I ensure you Tsunade, that I can heal thousands of people at the same time. With your help and your summons help injuries will not be a problem. As far as the destruction goes, we will figure it out, if I have to move all the Leaf Shinobi to Japan, I will do that, If I have to rebuild all the buildings with my own two hands then so be it. Please Tsunade, if it makes you feel any better it will only be me, Kacchan, Kakashi, and Naruto that return." Izuku pleads.

"Do you have any proof of your healing Prowess?" Tsunade questions like she is considering it.

"If I can bring someone back to life that died during the Third Shinobi war, then healing battle wounds should not be too hard." Izuku smirks and hands Rin a headset.

"That is not possible unless you have used the forbidden Edo Tensei Jutsu." Tsunade huffs disbelievingly.

Izuku waves at Rin to speak, "Tsunade-Sama, it is true he has brought me back to life. I do not know the specifics of what he did but I am indeed alive."

"I will need to see this proof, Rin-chan could indeed be alive, but it is also possible she is an Edo Tensei that you have control over. I will not believe you until I can examine her myself." Tsunade declares.

"Very well, is there a way you can get to our location? We will leave this world in the morning. We cannot risk going to you as the calamity that has been following us seems to track us by the trees we are around." Izuku warns.

"I will send a summon to Jiraiya with a reverse summon seal that will summon me to your location," Tsunade informs.

A seal on Jiraiya's arm glows in a faint blue, Jiraiya activates the seal and a slug pops out with a scroll. Jiraiya opens the scroll and performs the hand seals to reverse summon Tsunade to his location. It takes a couple of moments before Tsunade is standing before them.

"Where is Rin?" Tsunade glares at the group.

"Right here ma'am" Rin calls shyly.

Tsunade studies the girl, she doesn't look a day over 15 exactly the same age as she was when she died. Tsunade has seen the Edo Tensei in action a few times, both when her Grand Uncle Tobirama used it, and when Orochimaru used it. Using the Edo Tensei the body's skin is cracked, the sclera of the eyes are always black. She doesn't see any of these signs. But she moves closer and motions for Rin to Lay down so she can get a full scan because something like this is not possible. She scans the girl looking for anything out of the ordinary. Her organs are fine no damage can be seen. The girl's heart beats calmly as her breathing is even. Tsunade checks the girl's chakra coils and sure enough, they match what Tsunade remembers the girl's coils feel like. She notices the girl is now a Jinchuriki, it only takes a moment to remember the unfortunate kidnapping that turned the sweet girl into an unstable Jinchuriki. The three-tails chakra resonates calmly with Rins coils. She checks to make sure Rin is under no mind-altering Jutsu or that her mind is not being controlled in some way. But Tsunade doesn't sense any oddities in the Girl's brain waves. Medically the girl is alive. "It shouldn't be possible." Tsunade huffs as she leans back and releases her Chakra.

Izuku hums softly, "My wolf is the Spirit God of Souls. While Rin's soul should have passed on, she didn't. She committed suicide so her soul was trapped here, she latched herself onto Kakashi. I sensed her and when I destroyed Hidan's soul his body was basically a shell not alive or dead. I was able to pull Rins soul into Hidan's body. After I did what I could we needed to get her heart started, Kakashi used small bursts of lightning similar to the strength of a defibrillator to shock her heart to beat again while I healed and performed CPR. When she was able to take her first breaths, I fixed the unstable seal. While before she only had a small piece of Isobu the seal pulled the rest of the unsealed Chakra into Rin. This only works if the soul is willing to come back and is still on this plane of existence. I cannot pull a soul from the afterlife."

Tsunade nods, "So you can revive the casualties that fall if we get attacked? But what about healing?"

Izuku nudges his head to the older Uchiha, "I healed the unhealable Uchiha."

Tsunade's eyes widen, "but how? There is no cure for what he has."

Izuku shakes his head, "I needed Neji's help. But basically, he was being poisoned by his own Chakra. Due to the accelerated rate, his underdeveloped coils needed to expand to be able to handle the Mangekyo Sharingan caused microbursts of chakra to tear through his system. While this is not deadly every once in a while, and can usually heal itself with rest, Itachi was unable to rest being sent on mission after mission. While despair increases the power an Uchiha has it also accelerates the rate at which they die. After the Massacre Itachi was so full of despair and guilt, his body couldn't handle the rapid growth of his coils. His original coils were clogged with scar tissue so his remaining chakra started carving paths into his organs to reconnect the flow of chakra. I had Neji close the paths so I could heal the damage. It took over 6 hours and while he is no longer in a life-threatening positions, I would advise him not to use Chakra until I can get him to Japan and do another healing session."

Tsunade is interested, "Mind if I take a look?"

Itachi nods and lays back, "go for it, it is always better to get another opinion. Even though I feel better than I have ever felt it is still good to double-check."

Tsunade approaches the Uchiha and scans him, his insides look completely different from what she remembers from the first time she scanned him. Where his lungs were full of obstructions and lesions are repaired organ tissue. The lungs and heart have been completely healed; she is impressed even she would not have been able to accomplish something like this. "How are your eye's Uchiha?"

"I have regained my eyesight; I can see almost perfectly without the Sharingan activated," Itachi informs.

Tsunade hovers her hand in front of his eyes she knows Uchiha do not like their eyes being messed with, without their permission. She asks him, "Can I see them?"

Itachi nods, and he feels the soothing coolness of healing Chakra. Tsunade hums as she scans the optic nerve. "Everything seems to be normal, there are no tears in the optic nerve, the chakra burns you had are healed as well. I do not believe the blindness will return anytime soon."

Itachi sags in relief, "Thank you, Tsunade-Sama, Izuku."

Izuku flashes him a smile, "I will always take care of my pack."

Tsunade huffs, "I didn't do anything, brat. I only checked to see the brats work."

Itachi nods but doesn't say anything else.

Tsunade turns back to the green-haired menace, "What else have you done to my Shinobi?"

Izuku puts his finger to his chin and hums, "I removed, and destroyed Orochimaru's influence on Sasuke."

Tsunade's eyes widen, "You removed the cursed seal?"

"Yep," Izuku confirms with a proud grin.

"How even our best seal masters couldn't destroy it?" Tsunade questions.

Izuku hums, "I didn't destroy the seal exactly. I targeted the piece of Orochimaru's soul that was encroaching on Sasuke. I isolated the tainted pieces and as I was destroying it, I healed Sasuke's not-tainted soul. Basically, the Seal was supposed to taint the host soul to make the body easier to possess by the snake. The only way to fully get rid of the mark was to destroy the soul inside it. Everything Sasuke did since the seal was placed was all Orochimaru's influence. Sasuke made it easier because his desire to kill his brother was already tainting his soul. Orochimaru was able to latch onto the already corrupted pieces and burrow even further."

Sasuke hums, "Is that why I felt so at peace when you were removing the seal?"

"Yea, for the most part, my flames have a calming effect on people. Can't have my Patients panicking as I heal them." Izuku smiles softly.

Sasuke nods, "I'm sorry for freaking out and hitting you with Chidori."

Izuku smiles blindingly, "no lasting damage, nothing vital was hit." He smirks, "If I didn't want to get hit by your move I wouldn't have. But if I let go of you while I was busy ripping the snake's soul out of you, well you could have died so I figured I would take the blow in a non-vital area to keep you still."

Sasuke pales, "So you let me hit you so I would not have died?" Izuku nods. Sasuke glares, "Are you insane? Why would you do that?"

Izuku ponders the questions, "you're pack, I don't need another reason. Besides, I knew where you were aiming. My heart, right? Well, I moved slightly to redirect the blow to a non-vital area. I knew what I was doing. The moment you started channeling electricity into your hand I already planned and countered your move without endangering your safety."

Katsuki growls, "The nerd, is stubborn when it comes to the well-being of our pack. We all are. The nerd is constantly observing his surroundings, there is nothing that will touch him that he doesn't allow."

Ace smirks, "Then why are you so overprotective about Izuku, Blasty?"

Katsuki glares, "Because the self-sacrificing idiot will throw himself in front of a killing blow for anyone of you dumbasses. It is my responsibility to make sure it doesn't come to that." Something haunting fills his gaze, "He almost died during USJ because he wouldn't dodge if it meant putting Lazy-Sensei in danger. He couldn't push him out of the way with his injuries, so he shielded him with his body. The Idiot would do that for anyone he considers pack. Pisses me off."

"But Kacchan, we made a promise, I wouldn't do that if there was another way. But I couldn't afford to destroy Sasuke's soul. If I killed him, I could bring him back to life, but my flames were interlaced with his soul one wrong move, and he would have turned out like Hidan. There is no coming back from that. So I made a split-second decision so that we would both survive." Izuku defends with a whine.

"I know idiot, doesn't mean it didn't scare the shit out of me." Katsuki huffs out a small, embarrassed blush forming on his cheeks. His tail droops in memory of when he almost lost his Nerd.

Izuku senses the sadness radiating off Katsuki and decides to pounce on him. With a growled, "Kacchan." Izuku tackles him to the ground going to pin him.

Katsuki is tackled to the ground, everything fades away as a feral grin breaks his face. He growls playfully and starts wrestling on the ground moving to pin the other teen. They roll around on the floor like a couple of untrained puppies as they grapple and pin each other. Katsuki's tail is wagging while they play happily.

Ace laughs at the faces of the Ninja as they watch the wrestling match between the two, "don't mind them, since they share their souls with wolves, they tend to play like them too."

"Playing?" Lee asks confused, "Does that involve biting as well?"

Ace chuckles, "Look at Katsuki's tail."

"It's wagging?" Naruto observes.

Kakashi hums in understanding, "my dogs do the same thing when they need to relieve stress. Typically, I will spar with them until the excess energy is gone, but sometimes they devolve into wrestling matches." A yelp breakthrough followed by a growl from the two wolves, Kakashi chuckles, "It seems Izuku has bitten Katsuki's tail."

Katsuki retreats for a second, he can't believe the Nerd bit his tail. He watches the Nerd, stalks him like prey a smirk blooms on his face. Izuku watches him warily, waiting for Katsuki to make his move. They play like this without their powers, without using Observation Haki, just wolf instincts. While Izuku's sense are more formidable compared to Katsuki's, Katsuki has always had the fighting instincts of a wolf. He makes it apparent while stalking Izuku, looking at him like he is a feast; ready to devour him. With all their powers activated, Izuku is stronger than Katsuki, but Izuku is smaller built on speed than on brute strength. So when Katsuki circles him looking for openings, Izuku feels pinned under his soulmate's gaze. Izuku feels a playful shiver race down his spine, he growls in challenge.

Katsuki's smirk widens, tail waging menacingly behind him. He circles his prey there is a split second when the Nerd's eyes are not on him. When he moves behind him before Izuku can turn his head to keep his eyes on him he gets ready to pounce. He waits wanting to see the Nerd's face when he realizes he is pinned. As soon as Izuku turns his eyes toward him he pounces on him relishing in the yelp that escapes him. But Izuku is feisty, he is not going to submit to Katsuki's superior awesomeness. So he re-strategizes he lightly places his teeth around the nerd's throat in a warning and growls at him to submit. But he knows it's not that easy as Izuku growls back defiantly and bites and pulls on his ear. Katsuki adds a bit more pressure to the Nerd's throat with his teeth almost leaving teeth marks. Izuku releases his ear with a surrendering whimper. Katsuki removes his teeth from his nerd's throat slowly, but before he completely removes his head, he plants a couple of kisses on his throat in apology. Izuku whimpers and whines in almost need but manages to suppress the almost moan. Katsuki smirks against his throat, "Hah! I win."

Izuku breaths heavily, "Kacchan's amazing." It's stated almost dreamily. And it takes a couple of blissful moments for Izuku to realize they have company, and he groans, "Get off Kacchan. You heavy."

Katsuki chuckles and drops all his weight on Izuku, almost starting a new wrestling match. The crackling of the beginning of OFA building up under him forces him to release his Prey with a yelp and leap back. Izuku laughs loudly and unrestrained at the panicked look on Katsuki's face. Katsuki stands there stunned pulled into the breathy giggles of his soulmate. The way Izuku's face practically glows in happiness, eyes glowing in mirth. Katsuki can't even pretend to rage, even when the happiness is at his expense, he just looks on completely mesmerized, wondering what he did to be so unbelievably lucky to call this Bright, Beautiful, Force to be Reckoned with, Nerd; his.

Other laughs break the stunned teen out of his worship, he growls his mesmerized state turns to rage. His eyes turn Dangerously onto Ace, "Wanna go, Matchstick!"

Ace waves his hand in front of his face as he tries to contain his laughter, "no… hah… no, I'm… hah… good…"

Katsuki growls at him warningly to stop laughing at him.

Ace chokes down his chuckles and wipes imaginary tears from his eyes, "Sorry, Blasty. It has been a while since you two wrestled like that. Uh… Lately, there have been other methods you both have used to relieve stress." He finishes his comment with a smirk.

Katsuki's face turns into a bright red mix of rage and embarrassment. Also a little bit of a heated reminder of their last intimate moment. He snarls, "Shut up! Matchstick!"

Ace laughs again, "I meant sparring, Blasty." He smirks again as Katsuki's flaming eyes glare at him, "what else would I be implying?"

Katsuki's restraint on not blowing up Ace had snapped, he leaps explosions ready, and a shout of "DIE!" on his lips. As expected, Ace turns intangible letting Katsuki harmlessly wailing on him. Ace laughs full-heartedly and boisterously, only succeeding in angering the explosive teen. During his laughter, he fails to notice the tinge of black that coats Katsuki's fist. Until he feels the breath knocked out of him as he crumples over the fist in his stomach. His laugh choked out in a fit of breathless coughs. The smirk that forms on Katsuki's face is dangerous, vicious, with a promise of an ass-kicking.

Izuku comes to Ace's rescue, Ace is so thankful for their sweet Blasty Tamer. He whispers something into Katsuki's ear and pulls his attention away from possibly committing a felony by murdering him. Shoto would be so sad. That might actually stop the Explosive blonde from full-out murdering him, but sadly it's not enough to stop the angry blond from maiming him. Ace always assumed Katsuki was only soft toward Izuku, sometimes he gets soft for Luffy, well maybe not soft but never violent. Katsuki usually takes his rage out on Ace, he likes to think it is because Katsuki can't really hurt him on accident because it takes conscious effort to activate Armament with his explosions. Ace is getting off track, Katsuki is surprisingly soft for Shoto, treating the heterochromatic male as a younger brother to be protected. Katsuki can't stand to see Shoto look sad or broken. In fact during the war of the best when he shielded his brother and soulmate and almost died for it, part of Katsuki's rage was from the broken expression on Shoto's face. The face of someone that lost a piece of them and doesn't know what to do with themselves. Luffy told him while he was recovering from his near-death, Katsuki spent a lot of time with Shoto, offering his own brand of comfort to the quiet teen. Between his hovering around Izuku and cooking he spent a lot of time with Shoto, when asked he would gruffly state, "Icy-hot needs me more. Luffy's in good hands." Referring to the Red-haired teen hovering around Luffy.

Shoto hovers close by, unsure if he should help his soulmate in front of so many unknown people. Ace coughs and hack up spittle as Izuku comes to pull Katsuki away for some forced cuddle time. Though Shoto suspects there is nothing forced about it. Izuku bounced up to Katsuki and draped himself over his soulmates hunched over form. Whining about being tired and needing his Kacchan to keep him safe in such an unfamiliar world while Izuku is vulnerable. Shoto hides a smirk, as Izuku winks over to him and pulls Katsuki away from Ace disappearing to the other side of the cave to curl into Kacchan. Shoto approaches his soulmate with a smile that is both completely fond and exasperated at the same time.

"One day, he really is going to try to kill you." Shoto states in his monotone voice.

Ace laughs softly, "Nah, he wouldn't want to make you sad. Killing me would make you sad."

Shoto shakes his head, "keep pissing him off, and I don't think me being sad will hold him back."

"Probably," Ace agrees, "but it is so fun to tease him. He makes it so easy."

Shoto shakes his head they have had this conversation several times. Ace will never learn; he thinks Ace enjoys getting his ass handed to him when Katsuki is mad enough to actually use Armament. He pulls Ace over to the side where Katsuki is running his fingers through Izuku's hair, looking completely content to be allowed to do so. "I think you should apologize for teasing him." Shoto orders.

Ace grumbles and protests but Shoto doesn't stop pulling Ace over to Katsuki. About halfway there, Ace walks on his own knowing Shoto is not going to be swayed away from his goal. He pouts pathetically, "fine."

Katsuki crack open an eye as he feels Matchstick and Icy-hot approaching him, he growls, "what?"

Shoto smiles at Katsuki, "I think Ace has something he needs to say." There is a smirk fliting on the edge of his stoic features. Katsuki raises an eyebrow and turns his fiery gaze on Ace.

Ace visibly gulps, "I am sorry for teasing you, Blasty."

Katsuki stares at him a little bit harder, loving the way the fiery teen fidgets under his piercing gaze. Finally, he closes his eyes again and huffs out a "Whatever, Matchstick."

Ace sighs in relief and follows Shoto to where Luffy and Kirishima is in a sort of pile with Kaminari and Ashido. He thinks Naruto and at least one other Ninja have gotten tangled up in their sleep pile. Ace chuckles softly not wanting to disturb the exhausted teens. He doesn't blame them, usually out on missions Izuku is in Wolf form to cuddle them all. It's a safety thing they have all gotten used to. However, there are times when Izuku is too tired, too comfortable in his surroundings to shift. Izuku must trust the ninja to a certain extent to let his guard down, or he is a lot more drained than any of them noticed. He chances a look at Aizawa and Shanks, he notices the worried glances they both flash over to Izuku. There is also a sense of relief that they will be leaving in the morning and tomorrow is Saturday, so they have two days to recover before they have to be in class. He looks back over to Izuku, he sleeps peacefully using Katsuki's lap as a pillow.

Katsuki looks like he is relaxing, and anyone that doesn't know him would be fooled, but Ace knows Katsuki. He can see the way his posture is just a little tense ready to defend his exhausted Soulmate from any and all threats, the way his ears twitch with every sound he can pick up. He sees the way Katsuki runs his fingers through Izuku's hair comforting the other teen, letting Izuku know that he is there, it's safe, he can rest; Katsuki won't let anything happen to him. Every few moments Katsuki cracks open an eye to making sure the rest of the pack is safe and accounted for. He would lock eyes with Aizawa and Shanks, a silent message that he is thankful they are staying vigilant.

Ace makes his rounds making sure everyone else is ok, the younger ninja except Sasuke is getting into their tents. Naruto, Lee, and Shikamaru have been roped into Luffy and Kirishima's sleep pile. The girls share a tent near the fire, most likely so they can chat before bed. Luffy, Kirishima and Kaminari are sleeping peacefully. Ace chuckles as he pulls Shoto to join the cuddle session. Once Ace joins the pile the sleeping teens gravitate toward him for warmth. The soft whispers of the adults lure him to a peaceful sleep.

***POV Change***

Sasuke is for lack of better words emotional. He sits quietly near his brother watching everyone settle for the night. Tsunade spent some time after healing Itachi talking with Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gai. Jiraiya caught the Hokage up on everything that has happened these last couple of days. He informs her that in the morning they are going to fix the other Jinchruikis' seals and then Jiraiya will make his way to the leaf. Kakashi tells her that the headsets Izuku gave them should work across worlds and he will test them out when he gets to Japan. Tsunade departs by telling them to be safe and she will keep in contact with them.

Itachi hasn't said anything since the introductions and Sasuke can feel irritation building up inside him. He doesn't know what to say though because the little bit of information Itachi divulged vaguely matches the information Izuku already gave him. Why would Itachi go through all that if he were innocent? There must be another reason for pushing Sasuke to the brink of madness. The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't have been the only reason. Could it? What about his revenge? Does he still desire to make Itachi pay for taking everything from him? Even with this new information, nothing has changed. His family is still dead, murdered by his own brother. For what? An Elders greed? If Danzo really did just want the Sharingan why kill the children and the non-Sharingan holding Uchiha? Why was only Sasuke spared?

Sasuke steals glances at his brother trying to get a read on him, but his brother's face looks to be carved out of stone. Not a hint to what the older Uchiha is thinking. Suddenly Itachi coughs slightly and turns his black eyes to Sasuke.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning huh?" Itachi mumbles out. Sasuke doesn't say anything just stares at his brother expectantly. Itachi sighs, "you deserve that much Little Brother." He makes eye contact with Sasuke, and Sasuke tenses not knowing if he should be activating his Sharingan. But there is a small smile on his brother's face so Sasuke decides against it. "On October 10th 16 years ago, the nine-tailed fox attacked the leaf."

Sasuke growls, "What are you telling me this? Everyone already knows the nine-tails attacked us."

"Has anyone ever told you why?" Itachi asks. Sasuke shakes his head in confusion. "The nine-tails is surprisingly weak to the Sharingan. Madara was the first Uchiha to take control of the fox with the Sharingan. He used his control over the Nine-Tails to attack the First Hokage at the Valley of the End. The first Hokage using Nature Chakra was able to break The Uchiha's hold on the fox. But the nine-tails lashed out in his freedom and tried to escape. The first Hokage ended up sealing the nine tails into his wife Mito Uzumaki. When Mito was getting too old to continue holding back the Fox, a child from the hidden Whirlpool village came to be the next Jinchuriki. I was young, but I still remember her. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She held the fox until the night on October 10th." He pauses.

"If the Nine-Tails was sealed, how did he wreak havoc on the village?" Sasuke questions.

"When a female Jinchuriki is pregnant the seal weakens. During childbirth, the seal is at its weakest. The Fourth Hokage, along with the Third's wife, and the best sealers, and Anbu were doing everything they could to prevent the seal from breaking. They succeeded for the most part." Itachi continues.

"Then what happened?" Sasuke pries impatiently.

Itachi chuckles sadly, "An Uchiha happened."

Sasuke gasps, "What do you mean?"

"I have my own suspicions on the identity of the man, but he was able to kill all the Anbu on Guard and the seal team. He used the newborn baby as a hostage to lure the fourth away from Kushina. While the fourth was trying to make sure his son would be safe and drop him off at a safe location, the man managed to break the seal holding the Nine-Tails. Danzo and the Third were both close enough to recognize the Sharingan in the Beast's eyes. So Danzo concluded someone in the Uchiha clan was trying to destroy the village. The Third was not entirely convinced it was someone from the Uchiha Clan. Danzo made his Suspicions known and started using his underlings to spread distrust through the village." Itachi explains a little. "Unrest began in the Uchiha, thoughts of leaving the village were common. Father had me spy in Anbu to watch Danzo and tell the Clan if they were planning on attacking. Shisui and I were going to use his Mangekyo to stop whatever plans my father was working on. Shisui was on a mission when he was attacked by Danzo's root Shinobi, and we assumed they destroyed his eye."

"The bastard didn't" Sasuke snarls, "if Izuku was telling me the truth, Danzo took the eye to Orochimaru to have it implanted."

"Yes, that is true." Itachi confirms sadly, "I didn't know it at the time. Then Danzo approached me with orders. I was still young in the Clan, so my father didn't tell me much of his plans. Danzo showed me evidence of a Coup d'état. He pulled out a mission scroll, extermination orders with the Hokage's signature on them. I was young and naïve, loyal to the Village, more so than I was to the clan. But still, I questioned the orders, Danzo must have been afraid I would go to the Hokage. He gave me an ultimatum if I killed the clan, I could spare you, if he had to send root you would die along with the Clan."

"You choose to spare me. Why?" Sasuke asks.

"Because you were the one pure person in the Clan." Itachi smiles sadly "you're my little brother and I promised mother I would always watch over you."

"Then why did you want me to kill you? Why show yourself as the bad guy? Why make me go through that for 72 hours? Why didn't you take me with you?" Sasuke screams tears running down his face.

"Guilt mostly, I wanted you to come after me when you unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan. I wanted you to kill me so I could atone for my crimes and give you, my eyes. I thought with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan you would be able to fight the Uchiha that unleashed the Nine-Tails." Itachi explains, "I wanted you to be viewed as a hero, the last loyal Uchiha slew the Clan Killer."

"Who do you think it was?" Sasuke asks.

Itachi hums, "if it was an Uchiha and not a bloodline thief, it could only be two possible people."

"Who?" Sasuke growls.

"Madara Uchiha, and Obito Uchiha." Itachi states.

"It couldn't have been Madara, he's long dead by now." Sasuke deduces. "And Obito died on a mission during the third Shinobi war. That is why Kakashi has his eye."

"Yes, my thoughts exactly," Itachi hums, "however, Kakashi was my Anbu Captain, so I know his chakra signature as if it was my own. The night of the Uchiha Massacre I had help from the same person that unleashed the fox. He had the same Chakra Signature as Kakashi does when he exposes his eye. If Kakashi's eye came from Obito, then the masked man from that night is also Obito."

"Then how did Obito survive? What turned him against the village and the clan?" Sasuke questions.

"I think Madara saved him, then used Hashirama's DNA to heal what the boulders crushed. After the Uchiha Massacre, I reported to the Hokage my findings. He gave me a second mission. I was to join the Akatsuki and find out the identity of the Masked Man. When I joined, I felt that same tainted presence That was around the Uchiha." Itachi explains.

"What was the presence?" Sasuke asks. "Do you think it is part of the Calamity Izuku is talking about?"

"I don't know, but he goes by the name Zetsu. There are two halves, the white half, which is a Bioengineered failure of the First Hokage created by Madara. The second half is Black Zetsu, he uses White Zetsu to get around." Itachi explains.

"So what do we do, now?" Sasuke wonders.

"If Zetsu really is with the Calamity, I think following Izuku is the best option we have at the moment. I have been in the Akatsuki for 5 years and I don't know the creature's abilities. Somehow, he has managed to corrupt Madara, Obito, and Pain. Izuku and Katsuki are right, if we confront it right now there is an equal chance of success as there is to failure." Itachi ponders out loud. "If we fail now, the chance they will attack before we are ready is greater."

"I guess you're right," Sasuke grumbles.

The brothers are silent for a while, until Itachi sighs again, "I know my explanation of that night doesn't bring you closure. I am not expecting you to forgive me, but for what it is worth I'm sorry I put you through that Sasuke."

Sasuke snivels, "you're right, it doesn't bring closure. They are still gone, everything I have forced myself to believe for the last five years is wrong, and I almost killed my best friend for your plans. I betrayed the village and followed a pedophile snake to get stronger to kill you. But I understand why you did what you did."

Itachi smiles fondly at his little brother, he cannot help himself he reaches his index and middle finger and gives Sasuke a forehead poke. "You don't ever have to forgive me, Sasuke. And no matter what you do from here on out, know this…" Itachi pulls his brother into a hug, "I will love you always."

Sasuke breaks and returns his brother's hug, knowing his brother did not go mad and kill the clan helps heal a wound he did not even know he had. Itachi did not give him an excuse, or rewind time to undo his mistakes, but he offered an explanation, a reason; and Sasuke thinks that is enough. Sasuke sobs silently, the only clue to his distress is the subtle shake in his shoulders and the small wet patch on his brother's shoulder. And suddenly he feels like he is seven again, waking up from a nightmare, or being compared to his brother. He is seven again, and his brother comes into his room after a mission to comfort him. Deep down Sasuke knows he loves his brother, knows he has never stopped, and that is probably why it hurt so much more when he was not around anymore.

Morning comes around quickly, Sasuke is woken slowly by the soft murmurs of the 20 people around him. Even the Angry Blonde is growling his orders quietly, forcing the teens of the group to scavenge for supplies for breakfast. Izuku is still asleep on the blond's lap and Sasuke thinks that is probably the only reason why the angry blonde is being so quiet. Ace approaches Katsuki with a small hint of regret on his face. He leans in towards Katsuki's ear to tell him something. Katsuki nods and glares at the adults. Several moments pass before Katsuki turns a soft look toward the sleeping teen in his lap.

Sasuke is close enough to pick up the soft way the aggressive blonde wakes the sleeping teen up. Katsuki runs his hand though curly green locks, he lightly shakes the boy's shoulder, chuckling softly when the teen swats halfheartedly at the irritating hand. It takes a few moments before Izuku's green eyes blink open a few times. Sasuke studies the teen who healed his brother, the teen looked half dead when he was finished healing Itachi. His little nap afterward didn't do much to relieve the teen before they were up in the air again for hours. By the time, the boy finally went to sleep Sasuke could tell Katsuki was worried, even the adults were worried. It is different for a trained Shinobi to stay awake for days on end to complete the mission. Even more so in enemy territory. Sasuke has been with the group for three days, besides the couple hour naps he has only witnessed Izuku sleeping one full night. Even while they were traveling through the land of fire, where the Shinobi could let their guards down slightly, Izuku didn't stop, didn't take a break. Sasuke thinks this is the only time Izuku has actually slept, he remembers Izuku telling him that even asleep he is fully aware of what goes on around him. His senses never turn off, so he has been on edge since they found Sasuke, perhaps even before then.

Sasuke doesn't realize he is smiling softly while watching Izuku wakes up lazily, rather than the jolting and hasty shifting to wolf form to keep them on the move. It takes several moments with Jiraiya hovering a respectful distance away before Izuku is ready to confront the day. Izuku looks at Jiraiya and untangles himself from Katsuki. Sasuke really tries to hold in his chuckles at the visible pout on the other teen's face. Katsuki glares at him and grumbles out something that sounds suspiciously like "Shut up, Duck butt." Sasuke chuckles louder.

Izuku moving pulls Sasuke's attention away from the Ash Blonde. He approaches the other Jinchuriki, Nii, Roshi, and Han Sasuke recalls. Naruto hovers at the edges of the conversation. "We are leaving here today, Jiraiya is not coming with us. So before we go Jiraiya, and I are going to look at your seals and see if you could benefit from the seal I have." The Jinchuriki break out in questions all at once, Izuku holds up his hand in a commanding gesture, "let me explain how this seal works."

Izuku explains that the seal will help the merging of the Spirit God's energy and soul to hosts. That the energy inside them is not supposed to hurt. He goes on to explain that their bodies cannot hold all of the energy and they will start to get the features of the spirits on the outside. He points to his own ears, tails, and wings. Explaining that this is the excess power from Fuji. He tells them about the possibility of their soulmates also gaining animal features if the bond is strong enough. He points at Katsuki and tells them Fuji manipulated the Soulmate's ability to Awaken his soulmate's spirit animal. Sasuke is shocked because while he knew Katsuki had wolf features he didn't know they belonged to the Norse Beast of Destruction Fenrir. Looking closer, Sasuke can see the markings of Fenrir scarred into the teen's fair skin. The eternal chains meant to bind the beast broken at length and hanging off his neck like a leash, and wrists like shackles.

Sasuke watches with his Sharingan activated as Izuku approaches Nii first. Jiraiya and Izuku inspect her seal and work on placing the new seal in a better location, her stomach. Sasuke can see the vast amounts of Spiritual energy travels from the original seal to the new seal. The energy leaving the older seal is blood-red, tainted, but as it contacts Izuku's flames the energy turns a deep royal blue with almost black flames dancing lazily into the new seal. It takes a couple of hours to fix Nii's seal, when Fuji comes out to finish adding his energy to the seal to bind it. Nii is asleep when the wolf is finished, Wordlessly Izuku shifts and repeats the process until all the Seals except Naruto's has been fixed. When Naruto asked why his seal wasn't being fixed, Izuku smiled and informed him that he senses something besides Kurama in the seal and until he can do more research it is better not to mess with it. Naruto accepts the reasoning easily enough.

Jiraiya sticks around for a couple of hours until the other Jinchuriki wakes up. The first one to wake up is Roshi, he didn't require as much intense healing as the other two. Not much has changed in the 40-year-old man, but he seems lighter somehow. The next to wake up is Han. Sasuke is unsure if he already had horns that were hidden by the man's hat or if they are new additions to the seal. He seems lighter as well.

Nii wakes up about a half-hour after the other two, she looks the most different. She has two blue and black fire tails, blue with black tip ears, and her eyes are decidedly cat-like. Izuku looks at her in a mix of contemplation and concern. He unleashes his flames to surround Nii humming as his flame does a diagnostic. He waits for her senses to adjust, and it does not take as long as Sasuke thought it would. Probably because she could already transform into the Two-Tailed Cat. Sasuke watches the tails flick in curiosity as she studies her surroundings with open curiosity. Her cat-like eyes focus on the Izuku and she tilts her head in question.

Izuku chuckles, "it seems your control with Matatabi was not only for your survival."

"What do you mean?" Nii asks, her voice is almost purr-like.

"Since you already bonded before the seal was fixed, the seal merged your souls completely. For the others, it will be a gradual process." Izuku explains, he goes into more detail about her transformations. He gets a gleam in his eyes as his fingers twitch.

A sigh and chuckle forces the group to look toward the Ash Blonde. "Nerd, you can study the capabilities of her transformations after we get home."

"But Kacchan," Izuku whines. "It's interesting, isn't it. We won't be the only ones anymore."

A mix of emotions spread on Katsuki's face, Sasuke notices. He can't begin to figure out half of them, but determination is the clearest. Katsuki hums and adverts his eyes and grumbles something too low for Sasuke to catch.

The other Jinchuriki looks at Nii in awe, Naruto hovers around wanting to ask questions and touch the Cat-like features. Gaara is silent with a curious look on his face. Izuku must be able to tell the emotions swirling in Gaara because he smiles softly at the emotionally stunted teen.

Gaara voices his question with a child-like wonder, "Is that going to happen to all of us?"

"Yes, eventually," Izuku states bluntly.

Gaara nods and continues to watch Nii, there is an uneasiness around Gaara, "will people really accept us?" Sasuke doesn't know if that question is rhetorical or not.

Izuku smiles sadly, "not everyone will accept us."

Before Gaara can say anything Katsuki huffs, "don't worry about what the extras think of you. Even All Might, the number one Hero, still has people who don't like him. It is impossible to be liked by everyone. What matters is the quality of the bonds you make not the quantity."

"Bakubro is right," Kirishima blurts out. "Growing up I didn't have many people I could depend on. I almost lost sight of who I wanted to be, the type of hero I strived for. But I persevered, re-evaluated myself, and worked harder to become a hero worthy of going to U.A. I met Izuku, Bakugo, Ace, and Luffy. Saw the way they were there for each other, saw the way they had each other's backs. And I wanted that, something I have never had. They seemed so strong and unafraid of anything, they had confidence in themselves and each other, and I craved to be part of that. After a long conversation, I was accepted into the group. I became pack, and I finally have people that I can depend on. I will put my life on the line for pack, and I know they will as well."

"Not going to lie to you Gaara," Kaminari begins, yellow eyes flashing with an air of seriousness. "A lot of our other classmate's view Izuku and Katsuki as monsters. It was worse in the beginning of the year, but slowly they have changed the perspectives of most of the class. It took Izuku having his chest caved in protecting the teacher. He put his life on the line for the safety of the class on multiple occasions to gain some respect from others. But I have watched them from the beginning and while they closed themselves off from the majority, Kirishima and Todoroki were able to gain their friendship. I wanted friends like that, friends that were real. Friends that didn't only accept me for the trends I followed. I could be myself around them, and yeah, I have made other friends while in U.A. but I can't trust them to have my back. With Izuku I don't even have to check that someone has my back, I just know they will be there if I need them. Izuku put his brilliant mind to work, to help me control my quirk. I can discharge millions of volts of electricity. The amount of electricity that gets released fries my brain. Before Izuku helped me I was a liability to my team and fellow heroes, while I could shock an army of low rate villains, there could be one in the crowd that is immune to electricity." He points to his gear that Izuku helped create, "with this gear I can limit the amount of electricity I discharge, while not putting my team in danger."

"I grew up isolated away from my siblings. My father would tell me that friends and companions would only hold me back." Shoto glares at his left hand, "every day my father would subject me to beatings under the guise of training. My own mother gave me this scar because she couldn't stand how much my left side reminds her of my father. I was home-schooled for my whole life until I entered U.A. I was cold, indifferent, thought everyone was beneath me. I challenged Izuku because in my mind I had something to prove. I would beat him and only use my Ice to accomplish it, denying my father everything by rejecting his quirk." He takes a shuddering breath, "I rejected my fireside so viciously, I almost rejected my soulmate because I couldn't understand why the universe would match me with a fire user. During a fight, Izuku broke himself helping me accept my fireside. For the first time in my life when I used my fire, I wasn't thinking about my father. My father was wrong, having friends didn't hold me back. I am stronger now than I ever was." Determination flashes in Shoto's heterochromatic eyes, "I'd rather have ten people stand beside me than 1000 people standing behind me."

Izuku smiles at his pack mates, happy tears in his eyes, "as long as I have breath in my lungs you will never be lonely again."

"I understand," Gaara nods with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Katsuki loudly orders the group that the food he was making is finished, and they should eat before they head to Japan. According to the angry blonde, someone is waiting for them on the other side. He orders them aggressively to hurry up so they can head back. Sasuke thinks there is a sliver of fear quaking in his voice. Izuku chuckles, "Ohh Kacchan, don't worry about making Nezu wait."

Ace laughs, "who knew Blasty would be scared of a mouse."

Katsuki ignores the questioning murmurs, "he is the only person on Earth that rivals the Nerd's mind. I'm not terrified of him for his strength, moron. He is a vindictive rat."

Izuku laughs, "Nah Kacchan is afraid Nezu's interest in me would take my attention away from him."

"Shut up! Nerd!" Katsuki rages, "I already compromised with Kato, I don't need to compromise more of your time with the rat."

The group teases Katsuki, even as the teen's face flushes with anger and embarrassment. Katsuki's palms crackle with firecracker-like explosions in his irritation. Izuku tries to get the explosive blonde to calm down but can't seriously detain him with the chuckles escaping him. Katsuki struggles and fights to get out of his clinging soulmates hold from blasting Ace. Halfheartedly at best, Katsuki is constantly aware of where his squirming Nerd is in relation to his crackling palm. Always making sure not to singe the other teen.

Eventually, Izuku manages to calm Katsuki down, only letting a few explosions pass his guard to hit Ace. Ace brushes off the violence like a seasoned general. Luffy and Kirishima watch the shenanigans with amusement while eating their food. Shoto has a small barely visible smile on his face as he quietly thanks Katsuki for not injuring Ace too badly. Katsuki hides a pout with a grumble before he drags a still giggling Izuku away to eat.

Shanks herds everyone like cattle after the food has been finished and cleaned up. He sends a quick message to Nezu that they are heading back now. That they should be back in Japan in a few minutes he tells Nezu the full count of people they are bringing over. There are nine teenagers and 5 adults. Shanks nods at something he hears from the other end and pulls out a small device.

He fiddles with it and an inky black portal opens up in the cave. Sasuke tenses expecting to feel danger from the other side, but as the portal stays open and nothing comes out or happens Sasuke relaxes. Shanks clears his throat and turns to Izuku, "Nezu is waiting with the detective for us, we should go."

Izuku nods and pulls Katsuki to the portal he disappears, Shanks tells Kakashi and Naruto to go next, followed by Gai and Lee. The rest break off into pairs and head through the portal, Sasuke, Itachi and Shanks are the last ones to go.

Sasuke approaches the portal with false confidence, he doesn't like the feeling of unease. His brother is a calming presence around him, and they enter the portal together. It is only a couple of seconds until they are standing on an island. Sasuke doesn't know what he thought this world would look like, but he takes in the scenery before him. He looks around and does a mental headcount, everyone he has been around for the last two days is accounted for. There are two additional people near him, a tiny bipedal mouse-like creature stands on top of a slim tall man.

The mouse opens his mouth to speak and Sasuke almost misses the introduction in his shock, "I am the principal of U.A. High School, you can call me Nezu. On the way to the school, you can all introduce yourselves. When we get to my office, we will discuss the matter of cover stories and student registration for the minors. For the Adults, we have multiple teaching opportunities available. Izuku I will need to speak with you as soon as we are able."

Izuku nods he looks around, "Where is Nighteye? He was supposed to be here."

Nezu sighs, "That is what I need to talk to you about, it seems he has not reported back in from his mission."

Izuku narrows his eyes, "tell me the details as soon as we get the others settled."

Nezu smiles, "of course if one of my Heroes is in danger the best person to save them is you."

Izuku nods and relaxes slightly, the principal leads the group to a massive machine. Izuku chuckles at the wide-eyed looks of the Ninja sport. "This is a plane; we will fly to where the school is."

Naruto gulps, "Like your wolf form?"

"Similar yes, but instead of flying on it…you will be inside it." Izuku clarifies.

The Ninja board the plane with the healthy levels of Shinobi Paranoia once they get on the plane the tension bleeds out of their frames as they take in the comfortable-looking area. The Natives find spots and sit down. Izuku smiles at them encouragingly, "it is safe for you guys to sit. I know this is different then what you are used to. The technology of this world is leaps and bounds that of your world. I wouldn't be surprised if it is too much to take in at first."

The ninja hum not really understanding what Izuku means but it doesn't take long before they find out. They are in the air over the ocean after introducing themselves. They can see massive stone and glass structures larger than any building they have ever seen. On some of the buildings, there are large moving pictures with some sort of information channel playing on it. There are non-flying machines that move around the building and from what they can see so far are people, a lot of people moving about. The Ninja are curious, the people alone outnumber the population of their village by an unimaginable amount.

"If there are so many people here, why, do you need us?" Kakashi asks.

Izuku steeples his fingers, "most of this world's inhabitants are non-combative."

"So many civilians." Shikamaru states.

"Yes, the ratio of heroes to civilians is 1:50,000 with a global population of over 7 billion people. Only the bigger countries have heroes, Japan, Russia, The United States, and England have the most heroes. Other countries have a military force but in turns of raw strength they might as well be Civilians." Izuku explains slightly.

"Can't you train some of the civilians?" Shikamaru questions.

"We could, but their training would need to be from scratch. Our society puts a lot of merit into Quirks, those that have combat or support quirks usually train them to be heroes, if they fail, they usually join the police department or other civil services. There are some people how to use their quirks for villainy, but the reasons for that vary based on the person. If a quirk is deemed useless by the Hero Society, then typically the person never even learns self-defense. The civilians put their trust in the heroes that swore to keep them safe." Izuku gives a basic rundown of their society. "So no, training civilians to fight competently would not be possible in the time frame we have."

"There is also the matter that only a select few of this the world knows about the threat." Katsuki points out.

"Why not inform the leaders?" Kakashi wonders.

"Because we have suspicions that there is a traitor; either in the government or in U.A. the people I can trust with this threat are a small group of people. If I tell the Hero commission a few things would happen, they wouldn't believe us. If by chance, they did believe us they would get more people into the loop, and chances of word getting back to the villains and the calamity becomes greater. Not to mention I do not trust the hero commission to help us, most of them are greedy and only work when it benefits them. If they found out the full capabilities of Fuji, well let's just say they would keep me captive to study or force me to mate with multiple people to pass Fuji on. If I told them, it wouldn't work because Fuji isn't a quirk but a devil fruit or a spirit god, they will try a number of different things to either make me a weapon, take Fuji away from me if I don't comply, or try to recreate the devil fruit. So telling the Government is not an option. Telling the majority of heroes wouldn't work either, most of them still see us as children. The other kids in U.A. and the other schools are not an option either." Izuku explains.

"They will be informed when they need to be, by that time there will be nothing the calamity can do because we will be ready for any outcome." Katsuki adds on.

For the rest of the plane ride, Izuku explains the norms and rules of this world. He explains that the school year is ending soon and during the break, they are going to revamp the class structure to get all the teens to work together. They have planned for multiple islands to be fitted for training camps, that the rise of villainy has called for desperate measures. But for now, until the end of the school year, they will be teaching an underground class. Basically, this class will have either Kakashi or Gai teaching chakra techniques to the teen ninja and a hero will teach the laws and history of this world. But before then they are going to spar with Izuku to find out how this world affects them. During the training, Izuku is going to help the Jinchuriki access their transformation modes and learn to control the power, so they don't go berserk.

The plane lands with little fanfare, the Ninja is escorted into the school. Since it is Saturday there are no students to avoid. They are led into a large conference room, almost resembling an auditorium. The Ninja looks around confused this seems to be a larger room than required for their meeting.

"Please take a seat, we are waiting for several people to join us," Nezu informs.

Izuku hums, "how is the construction of the islands going?"

"The Islands are finished; however we do not have enough people to staff them at the moment," Nezu informs.

Izuku nods, "then we need to find a safe place for them to test their chakra."

"What about the Red Force?" Shanks asks, "Surely, the Haki the training room will be sufficient enough?"

Izuku ponders, "for now that will work, is that room where I practiced my transformations still Available?"

"Yes, it hasn't been touched since you and Katsuki used it last." Shanks states.

"Ok that room should be able to handle a full transformation of the Spirit's, we should also get them started on Haki training." Izuku's eyes glaze over as he vocally runs through plans.

Nezu interrupts Izuku's planning binge, "Young Midoriya, you can test the capabilities of their Chakra during the weekend."

Izuku startles out of his plans, and when his brain catches up to what was said he pouts, "But… I wanted to test them as soon as possible. Once I figure out their weaknesses here, Kota and I can work on outfitting them with gear."

Nezu chuckles at the excited gleam in Izuku's eyes, "don't you think they would benefit more with an adjustment period?"

Izuku's eyes widen, "oh your right, we just finished a few fights while in the Elemental Nations. I didn't even consider that the rate of Chakra replenishment would differ here. Also, the quality of the natural energy here is different from the Elemental Nations, so it will take their bodies some time to get used to the slight differences in the energies. I know it is possible for the Ninja to use their abilities because I have seen them in my visions. However, I don't know if it is because the energies are similar to what their bodies are used to, or if the energies changed to be more Quirk-like. Are Chakra abilities passed on through DNA? When Ace and Luffy got here their devil fruits acted similar to quirks. Since there were no records of soulmates in the Grandline Ace and Luffy should not have received a soul mark. But a few hours after they got here their Soul marks appeared."

Izuku's hand twitches like he is writing this information down. Katsuki fondly chuckles and slides a notebook in front of the muttering teen. Izuku mumbles out a quick "thank you, Kacchan." Then the teen is nose deep into his notebook muttering and mumbling to himself about the possible differences of Chakra energies and Quirk Factors and possible ways to overcome these challenges.

"Well, we lost the Nerd." Katsuki sighs exasperated.

Ace and Luffy chuckle, "Ahh, the puppy was doing so well too."

Katsuki glares at Ace but he doesn't get a chance to say anything when there is a knock on the conference room door. The detective opens the door letting in multiple adults.

Nezu waits for everyone to settle down before he clears his throat to get everyone's attention, "Thank you for coming here on such short notice. I have a few things to point out before we get to introductions. We have been working on converting a few islands into training grounds for the students, however, we do not have nearly enough people to staff the islands at the moment. With the exception of Nighteye, the only people who know about this threat and the origins of the Majority of you are in this room. Due to the possibility of a traitor among the students and staff of this school we much keep your origins a secret. We are going to revamp the classes for the first-year students. I am going to assign 2 teachers to each class and assign teams of support students to each class. They will be attending all the heroic classes to monitor the gear and evaluate the effectiveness. For now, all Elemental Nations personnel under the age of 18 will be enrolled in the class 1-X."

Sometime during Nezu's speech, Izuku has tuned back into reality, "how many students are you putting into each class?"

Nezu smiles, "undetermined, during your trip to the elemental nations I took the liberties of reading through the multiple notebooks you have left for me. The number of students depends on how many teens you keep bringing back."

"Knowing Izuku, every teen he runs into is coming home with him." Shanks sighs fondly.

Izuku blushes and mumbles out, "not just teens that follow me home."

"That is true, but the adults are not going to be in a classroom." Nezu chuckles.

Izuku pouts but doesn't say more on the topic. It is not his fault he keeps claiming people. Well, it's not entirely his fault.

Nezu's face turns serious, "this brings me to my next point. I have received intel that the League of Villains' activity is on the rise. I believe they are gearing up for another attack, their target is not known, but it would not be too farfetched that they are going to go after All Might again."

"I don't think they are going after All Might again." Izuku states.

"Explain." Nezu studies the teen.

"It doesn't make sense, for all intents and purposes they accomplished their goal when they kidnapped Kacchan." Izuku starts.

"I thought their goal was to convert Young Bakugo to the side of Villainy?" All Might questions.

"That was one of their objectives, but I believe that wasn't the only one." Izuku holds up another finger. "It was a win/win opportunity for them." Izuku chances a look around the room, he is met with lost and confused faces. He sighs, "they took Kacchan, who was chained to a podium during the sports festival. This event was broadcasted all over the world. The hero that chained him pretty much got off scot-free, he wasn't a popular hero, so no one missed him in the ranks. The underline message that the sports festival broadcasted to the world was "Bakugo is not fit to be a hero." The villains took Kacchan for a reason with two possible outcomes that the LOV considered a win. The first outcome, Kacchan's desire to be a hero was skin deep. A few words of manipulation could have been enough to turn him against his morals. The second outcome, All Might would come to his rescue. All for One pulling the strings behind the League was counting on the second option that is why he showed up."

"He knew a battle with me would force me to retire because of the injuries I sustained the last time we fought. He knew I passed on OFA already." All Might gasps.

"Exactly, if they managed to turn Kacchan faith in the heroes would dwindle. They would also have a powerful ally on their side. They didn't consider Kacchan's desire to be a hero was so powerful he would have died before he turned to Villainy. But All for One has ways of making people compliant. If no one showed up to save him, All for One would have turned him into a Nomu. Either way, faith in U.A. would have gone down significantly." Izuku explains, "On the other hand, All Might came to his rescue. In doing so All for One accomplished the second outcome. He might not have killed you, but you are no longer the symbol of peace. The villains are not afraid to just hear your name. I won't lie Endeavor is strong, but he is not worthy of being the Symbol of Peace. He doesn't deter villainy just for being around."

"Ok so if the league's goal was to take All Might out of commission, then what are their plans now?" Nezu asks.

Izuku hums, "Besides general chaos, there are really only two objectives that make sense."

"And what would that be?" Shanks asks.

Izuku steeples his fingers, "the first objective is the most probable. They plan to destroy the place where Heroes are born. U.A. has a track record of training the best hero hopefuls."

The U.A. Teachers and Hawks nods, "What about the second objective?"

"That depends how much Shigaraki knows about One for All. Did AFO transfer his quirk to Shigaraki before All Might defeated him? It is also possible that AFO collaborated with someone to transfer his DNA to Shigaraki in the event he was captured. Does AFO know who All Might chose as a successor? If he does, did he tell Shigaraki?" Izuku points out, "let's pretend for a moment that the answer is yes to all those questions."

"Even if AFO told him who has the quirk there is no guarantee that he will come after the Successor." All Might debates.

"That is true, but I have already foiled Shigaraki's plans several times already. Not to mention, he knows I am a healer. He witnessed me heal Aizawa during the USJ, and then heal all the heroes that were caught up in the Hosu incident. Not to mention I took down Stain and caused him casualties during Kacchan's kidnapping. That is enough for the Man-child to want revenge on me. Add in the fact that I have the quirk that took down his mentor. Well, it is only a matter of time before he starts making moves to draw me out." Izuku explains.

"So we put you in hiding until we deal with the treat?" All Might offers half-heartedly.

"That won't work," Izuku argues. "He knows I wouldn't be able to stay away from the people who need me. He knows that my conviction to save people will never allow me to stay in hiding. Even if it managed to work for a little while, eventually Shigaraki would get fed up and start targeting my important people. My mother and Pack would be in danger. I might have more protection here at the school, but my mother does not have the same protection. And to assign a squad of heroes to protect her would be a waste of resources and manpower to fight the LOV. Despite Shigaraki's child-like demeanor, he is smart. He would guess that if I don't show up I would either be on lockdown in the school or hiding with my mother."

"So regardless he would attack the school?" Nezu summarizes.

"Yes, in either of his objectives the school will be the battleground." Izuku nods.

"So what do we do?" Hawks asks.

"We leak the information about one of the islands. Fight him there where there are fewer potential hostages and casualties." Izuku smirks.

"What are the chances of success with this plan?" Nezu asks bluntly.

"We won't win entirely, but it will force the LOV to go into hiding again. We haven't figured out how to take down Kurogiri. Chances are Shigaraki and Kurogiri will escape. If Shigaraki has AFO there is no telling what combinations of quirks he will have in his arsenal. Without potential civilian casualties, we can go all out." Izuku plans.

"So we send everyone to the Island to fight the League." All Might offers.

"That won't work either," Izuku shakes his head. "There is no guarantee that Shigaraki will attack the island with his entire force. If we bring all the capable heroes to the island, and Shigaraki decides to split his force the civilians in Japan will be unprotected."

All Might slumps, "it was easier when Villains weren't too smart. Villains used to be predictable."

"They still are predictable; we just need to adjust our tactics." Izuku begins, "either they are going to attack the school, or they are going to attack me. If we move the school's general location and feed info to the spy, then at least the number of Casualties in the attack will decrease. We should plan for everything else as well."

"What do you mean, Izuku?" Aizawa requests.

"We know their end goal is to bring the Hero society to its knees. But what steps are they going to take, we know that Shigaraki has a personal hatred for me. We know he can't stand U.A. If we look at this in the terms of Chess or Shogi, then by the end only one of two goals will be fulfilled. Either he wins, or I win. But regardless it is impossible to predict every move the opponent is going to make. While I could come close, he could make a seemingly unimportant move that will distract me from his true goal. Or I could see right through it and counter. Basically, there is always a degree of unpredictability, or randomness that we will need to prepare for. As Murphy's law states- everything that can go wrong will go wrong." Izuku explains.

"Being a hero is not just about fighting villains." Katsuki starts, "as a hero we help in natural disasters."

"Exactly Kacchan, that is where the Chaos Theory comes in. We could already be bogged down with evacuations and unplanned circumstances. A villain doesn't need to worry about innocent bystanders that get caught up in the attack or in a natural disaster." Izuku tacks on. "As long as they can accomplish their goal with as much destruction as possible, they don't care."

"All we can do is prepare for the attack and plan for anything unforeseen." Nezu states.

"Exactly, I recommend upping the training both battle and rescue training. Regardless of their target, our primary objective will be to minimize casualties." Izuku closes.

"You're right Izuku." Nezu praises.

Shikamaru tents his fingers, "I might be able to help you plan."

Izuku raises an eyebrow, not expecting Shikamaru to want to help him so soon.

Shikamaru sighs tiredly, "Ninja are trained in espionage and assassination. We are soldiers training to infiltrate and gather information, while we do this in service for our villages it doesn't change the fact that in a way, we are criminals. Our village sees us as heroes, protectors to their ways of life, but the other villages see us as the villains, a threat to their way of life. We don't always kill our enemies, but we are exposed to the idea that we might have to in defense of our homes. We detain and capture when possible." Shikamaru sighs, "anyways I specialize in strategy and tactics. So I can help, or at least be an effective soundboard to bounce ideas off of."

Izuku smiles, "Thank you Shikamaru." He gets a predatory gleam in his eye, "I'd love to pick your brain. Besides Kacchan and Nezu, not many people rival my intelligence."

Sasuke clears his throat, "Count me in as well. If this world hasn't affected my eyes, I might be able to see things you miss."

Neji nods as well, "I would also like to help with the planning. In simple terms, my eyes work like x-ray vision, allowing me to see through walls and a near-perfect 360-degree field of vision."

Izuku nods, "after you get settled in, and we find out if this world has affected your abilities, we will form a plan."

Kakashi also surprisingly volunteers to help with the plan, his reasoning is his experience in espionage. Though it is possible the Ninja are using this opportunity to gather information of this world. Either way Izuku doesn't care, he could only benefit from having other experienced people working on a reliable plan.

After being veered of topic Nezu brings the conversation back around to his messages. He tells them he will wait on further information before he decides on progressing with the plan. Nezu continues the meeting telling the Ninja their new rolls Kakashi and Itachi will be working with Hawks as teachers to class 1-X. Kakashi and Itachi's role as teachers is to train the ninja in their specific chakra natures, find out what their hardships are and what has changed. Hawks' role is to teach history and Hero ethics to the teens and fellow teachers. Nezu receives nods from the others. He tells Gai that he will work with Rayleigh and Shanks in hand-to-hand combat. Roshi and Han are to work with Marco and Yasopp doing security work. The adult Ninja agrees to be officially employed under Shanks' Agency giving them access to the training room Shanks mentioned earlier. As the meeting ends, Hawks volunteers to show them to the apartment-like dorms that Cementoss built for them. Izuku promises to check in on them tomorrow and for them to get rest. Sanji tells them he will be making dinner for them and that he will contact them as soon as it is ready.

After the Ninja depart for some much-needed downtime, Izuku looks at Nezu expectantly. "Where is Nighteye?"

Nezu sighs, "I do not know, I have been trying to contact him through the headset, but he is not responding."

Izuku hums, "the headsets have a tracking chip embedded in them. The tracking chip should not be affected by jamming technologies. I will contact Kato tomorrow to get a pinpoint on him. He might not be able to respond."

"Nerd don't worry so much about Nighteye. He is strong." Kacchan tries to reassure, but it falls a little flat. Katsuki can't discern what he is feeling, but there is a sense of impending doom or unease in the air. He can feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle with the sense that something big is about to go down. But there is nothing they can do right now, their team is Exhausted, Izuku more so than the others. Izuku gives him a shaky smile, worry radiating off him. Despite Izuku's attempts to protest Katsuki stands firm on making his Nerd rest. He forcefully gets the stubborn teen to relax by teasing his Soul Mate's mark. He smirks as Izuku collapses against his side, clearly letting his fatigue show.

The meeting ends, Nezu seeing the exhaustion in Izuku's form and dismisses them. Katsuki steers the exhausted nerd to their dorms. He ignores the whispers from the classmates milling about, no doubt they are wondering what happened to make Izuku look so worn out. But Katsuki glares at the people in his way and stomps to the elevator. Normally they would take the stairs but with the nerd, this exhausted he decides it better take the elevator. He drags the nerd with him into their suite, someone must have cleaned before they got back because the beds are made, and the air doesn't feel stale. He opens their shared bedroom, helps Izuku get undressed, and urges the nerd into a shared shower.

He doesn't trust the Nerd to call him for help if he needs it or to not fall asleep in the shower. So Katsuki strips and helps Izuku wash his hair and body. Ridding the nerd of dirt, grime, and dried blood. Finally, the nerd is clean he looks a hell of a lot better in Katsuki's opinion. He helps Izuku sits against the tiles letting the warm water soothe his body as Katsuki washes. With every bit of dirt and grime that comes off Katsuki, he feels a million times lighter. Regretfully, he helps Izuku get out of the shower and turns it off to save some hot water for the others. He quickly dries them off and tucks Izuku into bed. He crawls in next to the already asleep teen and pulls him in for cuddles. He is glad to be home, relatively safe all things considered. Finally able to let down their guards, Katsuki drifts off to sleep, peacefully.