Chapter Thirteen: The Ninja
~Amaya's POV~
"You sure she'll be okay?" I asked once again about Bianca. I might not like her and vice versa, but it would be horrible if I didn't at least put forth some concern about her health, not to mention it would make me look suspicious if I didn't.
"She'll be fine." The Healer, Tommy, grinned knowing my history with Bianca Kane. (He went to school with us and used to practice his medical magic on us in the nurse's office when we got into a bloody fight.) "The Disturi drained her magic, but he didn't drain it all. It'll take a while, but she'll eventually be able to come back from this."
"I just hope it makes her a better Guardian." Analia grinned.
"Be nice Ana." Ariel said. "She did do her job in trying to fight back."
"Only because Amaya threatened her." Analia muttered. Tommy grinned.
"Don't worry so much Maya. I'll call you when she's awake." I nodded knowing Tommy would keep his word or die trying. He was a good guy. A bit dense but good. "Don't forget that the potion I gave you will take effect in twenty minutes."
"Sure thing." He waved as he and the other two Healers left in their truck.
So far everyone was gone. The Head of my Department had come and gone with my statement, the clean-up crew had done an excellent job in remodeling everything. Now it was just Analia and Ariel.
"Do you want us to take the kids?" Ariel asked. I tensed looking at Keira and Memphis who were lying on the couch, asleep. Analia had been true to her word about erasing their memories. Keira and Memphis had chosen not to remember the Disturi and their natural fear stimulators. Not that I was going to end up leaving their side any time soon.
"No. I think staying with them would help." I nodded. "Me and them. I probably won't be leaving their sides anytime soon." They nodded.
"You're right; you should be there when they wake up." Analia said.
"Do you want us to stay with you?" Ariel asked eyeing me intently. I took a deep breath.
"No. If the kids wake and find you here it might cause the blocks to shift. And I'll be fine once I put up three shields." Or ten. Analia guessed my thoughts as she bumped me.
"Hey, don't forget that we're here for you."
"We made a promise when we agreed to be partners." Ariel agreed. "Even if it was a little cheesy."
"I didn't hear you complaining at the time." Analia snapped. I smiled briefly.
"No. I'll be fine. I'm just going to need some Advil for my headache. Besides, I may be a bit rusty but I'm still Amaya. I remember how the recovery steps are supposed to go."
"There's my girl." Analia grinned. She gave me a hug before saying good-bye. Ariel cocked her head to the side like she was listening to something. I hoped to the Goddess on high that she wasn't hearing anything from the kids' room. (I'd stashed the ninja there and told a small lie that they were hiding.)
"Are you sure you're all right? You know I'm here for you if you need anything."
"Yeah. I'll tell you about it when I'm ready." Ariel nodded knowing I was telling the truth. There wasn't any kind of secret about me that I kept from my team. Secrets led to lies and lies led to distrust, something we didn't need on our team.
"Alright. Sleep tight sis." I watched as Analia and Ariel drove out of their hastily made U-bend and on down the road to the gates. I looked around hoping that I didn't have to do this next part. When I locked the door and turned around I found Fate just wasn't that kind to me.
Standing by the couch was Nagato. Leaning against the wall like he was bored was Kakashi and sitting on my usual seat on the sofa was Itachi. I'm guessing the others were watching the kids since I didn't see them on the couch anymore.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Kakashi asked staring at me intently. "You look a bit pale."
"Excuse me but it's not every day that I get a group of ninjas from a story in my house. And certainly not as cats." I said wearily. A part of my mind was still geeking out about the fact that I had Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha in my living room but thankfully I was able to control those urges. (Not everyone can claim they just stood still while their teenage crushes were standing/sitting in front of them within glomping distance.)
"That is something that we need to talk about." Nagato said seriously. I nodded, wishing I had some alcohol available. My arms folded as I got comfortable standing. They were still dangerous ninja.
"I would ask why you didn't feel the need to come forward with this story earlier, but I can understand you not being able to turn human until tonight." I spoke.
"Yes, it seems that your magic combined with our chakra caused an emotional burst which helped change us." Kakashi mused.
"So now that you're human, any plans for world domination?" I asked calmly. "Because I'm not exactly in the mood to fight against you guys after just fighting two fear demons."
"Understandable. Akatsuki doesn't have a plan currently. I doubt we would have any plans for 'world domination' anyway. We are new to this world and don't fully understand it's impact or implications." Nagato admitted. I raised an eyebrow. Seems someone learned from his time here. I may be a liar but that didn't mean I liked them. Hell, I didn't like myself for lying. "We aren't exactly sure where we are other than in your house. We don't know anything about this world and what we could expect other than what we've read."
"The Encyclopedia." I realized. Nagato nodded. "I was wondering if there was a ghost in the house since my books always seemed to end up in a different place."
"Sasori," Itachi spoke softly. My eyes flicked to meet his dark eyes. "Has not exactly been very accommodating with sharing."
"Sasori." I murmured as I thought about this. Sasori was another well-liked member of mine. It made me think though. "Did all the Akatsuki come?" I didn't think Zetsu or Tobi had come through, none of the other cats had their markings but I needed to make sure.
"Tobi and Zetsu did not come through. The rest of Akatsuki is here."
"Plus, my Team." Kakashi added. I nodded before chuckling.
"So, Keira actually named Deidera Brittany?" I thought I saw Nagato and Itachi's lips twitch in amusement.
"He was ready to kill Hidan before I told everyone to shut up about their names." Nagato admitted.
"Well in that case I'm very glad that I had you guys named sensibly." I spoke.
"Cutie?" Nagato questioned.
"Would you have rather been 'red'?" I asked honestly. He didn't answer so I took that as a no. "So now that you're human none of you guys have thought about going back home to your world?"
"When would that be?" Itachi asked. I frowned in confusion. Weren't they all from the same timeline?
"The Akatsuki, in the time I came from, was already dead." Kakashi said. "From what we've been able to assume, the Akatsuki were all good and dead when we ended up here."
"Oh. So where did you and your team come from?" I asked. "I know you don't die yet."
"'Yet'?" Nagato asked. I shrugged.
"Everyone dies at some point. No one is immortal, no matter how much they wish they were." He accepted that.
"We came from the Fourth Great Shinobi War." Kakashi continued. "I was talking to Rikodu-sama. He's-"
"I know who he is Kakashi." I smiled slightly. "I'm pretty sure I can remember how everything in the story was supposed to go."
"That makes everything so much easier then." Kakashi eye smiled. I nodded. "From what Naruto and Sasuke tell me, they were fighting in the Valley of the End. They'd combined one last attack before everything went white. Sakura was caught in a genjutsu and since she was she can only remember the Tsukuyomi Sasuke used on her." I nodded.
"And the Akatsuki remember when they were controlled by the Edo Tensei?" I asked staring at Itachi and Nagato.
"Unfortunately." Nagato winced. I nodded.
"Then I suppose that leaves us with one problem." I spoke. "Does Team 7 want to return home?"
"Can you return us home?" Kakashi asked as his eye widened slightly.
"Me? No. I'm a Animorphi. Only Dimensional witches are able to transport things from one dimension to another."
"Then we're all stuck here." Nagato said. "We can't use Fuinjutsu without some very extensive material and using Itachi or Sasuke's Sharingan would probably end in a 50-50 chance of actually helping."
"It wouldn't really matter anyways." Itachi murmured. "Akatsuki is dead. If we did manage to return whatever body we are inhabiting would most likely die once we set foot in our world."
"He has a point." Kakashi said.
"Well, I may not be a Dimensional Witch, but I do know one." I offered.
"Are you sure you can trust us with someone we've never met?" Nagato asked. I snorted.
"I'm not sure you'd survive her. And besides, you have met her." I took a moment to revel in their surprised faces. "Analia is a Dimensional witch."
"And how can we be sure she won't betray us at the first opportunity?" Nagato asked.
"Analia won't refuse to help nor will she tell anyone. She hates liars and traitors of any sort. Besides once we finish this I do plan on telling my team about you."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Kakashi asked.
"We don't keep secrets in my team. Secrets lead to lies and lying leads to doubt. Doubt is never good for teamwork." I met Nagato's eyes. "Akatsuki just needs to think about what they want to do."
"You would let us stay here if we chose?" Itachi asked. I shrugged.
"Why not? You're not the first people from another dimension we've met. A friend of mine married a man from the Shikon Realm. Another friend is dating a guy from the Pretear Realm. Ironically, everyone seems to come to our dimension."
"And what about your superiors? Wouldn't they want to know about us?" Nagato asked.
"I'm retired. Whatever I run into I'm on my own unless it's life threatening. And I don't think you'd want to kill me or my brats. You'd have done it already."
"I do believe that Naruto would like to go home as soon as possible." Kakashi said. I nodded looking at Nagato since he was supposed to be the leader of Akatsuki.
"First things first, can you change everyone else back? I would like to get their input without translating meowing." Nagato said.
"I can do that." I agreed. "But I do need to lay some ground rules." Nagato nodded at me to continue. "One, no cussing. Keira and Memphis have a habit of hearing things they shouldn't, and I don't want Hidan influencing them. Two, you make a mess I expect you to clean it up. You're all adults and I'm not your babysitter. Three, if anyone tries to go in my closet I will not be merciful. Four, if someone other than my team comes, I want you all to turn back into cats. It would be nice to make this a quiet mission. And five, Like I said, you're all adults. Please don't make me regret turning you human."
"Your rules are acceptable." Nagato said. "As long as I can make one condition in return."
"Have at it."
"If we chose to stay, we stay with you. You are the type of person who doesn't bother with lies unless you absolutely have to." I nodded.
"I guess I can deal with that. Although since I was recently in a fight I'm afraid that I can't do anything until later." I looked at the clock to see it was 6:15 am. "Ugh, on second thought. Make it tomorrow."
"Understandable. Will anyone be coming around to see you?" I yawned trying to think. Was it just me or was the room spinning?
"Not that I'm aware. My family members usually start appearing once word has reached whatever remote corner of the world they've disappeared to." My vision was spinning.
"Amaya?" I caught myself when I was about to nod off. I shook my head.
"Sleeping potion. I'm about to sleep like a vampire for a few good hours."
"Are the children under the same thing?" I fell sideways. Three different blurs let me know that they had moved. My body was relaxing at an alarming rate. It was a good thing I had put in the shields already.
"Amaya?" I focused to see three different pairs of eyes looking at me in concern. (Well, Kakashi only had one, but you know what I mean).
"Um... The kids will wake up when they're ready... Memory block takes a while to set..." What was I talking about?
"Go to sleep." Itachi ordered softly. I nodded already halfway there. This couch had really gotten extremely comfortable. So warm. I snuggled closer enjoying the warmth.
I'd wake up and deal with everything else then. Yep... That was a good plan. With that I fell into a deep sleep.