A/N: Now I keep my promise. Ah, it feels so good to write something I had time to care about.

Much love to everyone. I hope I make you happy, and see you in the end notes.

.

That night, there was no meeting. Everybody just made hamburgers and retreated to their own private spaces. Deidara found Sasori. "Hey, um. I just wanted to let you know I looked in the shed today, yeah. I didn't touch anything. I thought the legs were really cool. You might be helping me get over my fear of bugs, yeah."

"Glad to help," Sasori said. "Did you look at my designs?"

"No."

"Good."

Meanwhile, Yahiko and Nagato ate together. Yahiko cleared his throat. "So, um, there was something I was thinking about today. I…I would like to be a parent someday. I think I'd like to adopt. The only problem is, I don't know who I'd adopt with. I'd be happy to do it with you or Hidan, but you would both see it differently than I mean it. It'd be awkward."

"Why not Konan?"

"Konan?" Yahiko's face wrinkled in confusion. "But I'd like them to have a father."

"What do you me -" Too late, Nagato remembered. "Oh. You wouldn't be a father to them."

Yahiko turned bright red. "I was just thinking more like what I have with the snake kid," he mumbled.

"Huh? The snake kid?"

"Carrying him like that…"

Nagato sat up. "Carrying a toddler felt feminine to you? Is that why you panicked that night?"

"Yeah."

Nagato smiled. "No need to panic. You'd be a great mom. Or dad, if you felt like it."

Yahiko blushed harder. "Thank you. *sniff* It means a lot to hear that."

"I think I'll stick with pets," Nagato said. "I hope we can bring Whisper home someday. I talked to Konan earlier, and she agreed to come during their training again, but it's not the same."

"What about the symbol?"

Nagato raised a hand, seeming to point at the ceiling. "I've thought about that. Jashin sama gets along well with predators, right? Why not dogs? Dogs are hunters. Konan thought Whisper would have a heart attack if he came here, but maybe he wouldn't. He might get along great with the symbol."

Yahiko smiled. "A dog, one or two living plushies, Same, any kid we adopt… That would be really nice! Like a big, happy family."

Nagato's smile faded. "As big and happy as it is now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as long as we're thinking about the future…" Nagato leaned back on his hands. "For now, being together is what we all need. What if that changes? What if people leave?"

"How could anyone leave?"

"I don't know. Something might change. Something always changes around here."

Yahiko looked around for something to hug. He didn't find any, so he resorted to holding Nagato's hand. "Let's not think about that."

Nagato squeezed his hand back. "Yeah. Good idea."

Itachi

They were not the only ones thinking of the future. Itachi wondered what this all meant. If we are but parts…if this story is all a form of autotherapy…will it end soon?

He, too, resolved not to think about it. In the morning, he put on his cloak and went to find Konan. "In this world, the cloak serves a largely symbolic purpose. But in your world, it must have served a practical one, or else ninjas who expected to encounter battles would not have worn it. May I spar with you to see what difference it makes?"

She nodded. "Actually, it makes very little difference. It was largely symbolic then too. But I would like to spar with you. I do not believe we have ever done so."

Itachi found her to be a difficult opponent. His Sharingan allowed him to read her movements, but she controlled paper weapons in addition to her own body. Those, he could not read as effectively, especially not when she altered their course midflight. He swatted away a shuriken that came dangerously close to his throat, activating his weapon seal as he did so. The kunai that was released fell. He caught it and kept his arm moving, beginning a series of slicing motions that dealt with the cloud of paper shuriken she had surrounded him with. Konan nodded in approval.

After their sparring session, she told him, "I thought your choice of location was foolish at first. Now I see it allows you to block and ready yourself for a counterattack at the same time. That is valuable."

"Honestly, I have no idea what possessed me to want a weapon seal so close to my throat," Itachi replied. "But thank you. I shall pretend that is what I intended all along."

Konan told him of Hidan's idea. "Would you be willing to participate?"

Itachi nodded. "Putting my talents on display for others to enjoy is what I do."

She beckoned for him to follow her. Itachi was surprised to be invited back to her room. "What is that?" he asked.

"A gift Hidan made," she replied, taking the paper frog down from its shelf. She showed him the three symbols inside the frog's mouth. Itachi smiled. How thoughtful.

"Why did you invite me here?"

She put the paper frog back on the shelf. "To ask after your progress. Have you found any other fictional properties that overlap with this world?"

"Not so far. The entire action movie genre is out, as are shooter games. Romantic comedies, too. Monster movies and games featuring mutated creatures are plausible, but we haven't seen any evidence of that. No zombies so far. Books and animated movies featuring talking animals, or animals that have their own separate societies, are also plausible but have not been seen so far. As far as I can tell, the intelligent bicycles do not come from any work of fiction. Neither do any of the strange reference materials Yahiko saw in the reference room except for the bookshelf. Although, it is possible that those other reference materials do in fact come from other worlds but have had their forms altered so they're not instantly recognizable. He suspects one of the shelves of reference material was inspired by a webcomic. I propose that we make a group visit to the reference room."

Konan tilted her head. "Why?"

"Between all of us, we should have all of our author's knowledge of fictional works," Itachi explained.

"...Why do you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? We are one person divided into many parts, and each of those parts fused with a fictional character to create beings which are related to our author but capable of acting on our own. We're not quite fictional, not quite real."

Konan blinked. "I thought the ability to directly manipulate souls did not exist in this world?"

"I'm not convinced of that. Exotic methods are required, and it is currently impossible to measure scientifically, but soul manipulation is possible. Remind me to tell you about tulpas sometime."

"Interesting."

"To return to the original topic," Itachi said. "I have seen no reason to believe we need to be concerned about other fictional properties at this time."

Konan nodded. "I also have something else I wished to discuss with you. You, more than anyone else, are concerned with information. The way it moves, the way it is created, and the ways it may be twisted. The Internet is an indispensable source of information, and so useful that we cannot possibly abstain from its use. But we have indisputable proof that parts of it are being manipulated or hidden. Does this affect the veracity of what parts of it we can access, and ought we to want access to the parts of it that we can't?"

"I have also investigated this," Itachi told her. "There are many ways information on the Internet can be manipulated. As far as I can tell, our Internet is subject to the least misleading of those methods. Content that would normally be visible is erased, leaving telltale gaps. It is obvious what we are not allowed to see, and we are not provided with alternate information. As long as that's the only thing that has been done to our Internet, we are quite safe. And the erased content is kept to a minimum. Blanking out a username and disabling private messaging attracts our attention much more than erasing the whole story would, but those are the only two things that would harm us. I believe this is benevolent censorship. Someone wishing to keep us in the dark would not make it so obvious."

Konan's face went even blanker than usual. Itachi recognized this as a sign that she was thinking of something especially important. "I see."

"I see you have thought of it, too."

"Yes." She turned away. "Follow the link Sasori posted. Check on it regularly. If the username should ever not be blank, alert me immediately." Though she could not see him, Itachi nodded.

"Was there anything else you wished to speak about?"

"Has Kisame told you his thoughts?"

"No. Now that he has other people to talk to, he does not turn to me."

"Restore this connection."

"I will."

She turned back around. "That is all I wanted to talk about. Now I have a special mission for you. Go and visit the Hatakes. Keep our alliance strong, and watch for signs of vulnerability. Report anything you see. I will be at the dog shelter, so contact Hidan if you return within the next few hours."

Itachi nodded. "I will tell him I'm doing this." He left Konan's room. As he walked the hallways, he noticed his cloak brushing against his legs as he walked. This piece of clothing may be largely symbolic, but it is very pleasant. I liked the way it flew around me in battle. I understand why Hidan wears it so much.

He found Hidan stretching and rolling on the ground in his room. "Mrow," Hidan said, swiping a hand in Itachi's direction. He rolled over onto his stomach as if Itachi wasn't there.

Itachi smiled. "I have been asked to visit the Hatakes. Would you like me to carry a message?"

Hidan rolled back over. "Mm… Keep an eye out for the tiger guy that went to visit the vampires. Don't say anything to him. Just take extra notes on how he's doing. Hang out with Ruta. He knows about clan politics, since he's always tripping over them. And tell Sakumo I wanna talk to him soon. You know what? Get his number. I'm curious about dogs."

Itachi promised to do all of these things. He set off in the direction of the campground. A very faint, hardly perceptible mist clung to the trees, whose bark was dark from an overnight rain. Itachi stopped to admire a spectacular specimen whose patches of lichen stood out as bright green on almost black. Beautiful! His mood was high when he reached the camp. "Hello there. Is Sakumo in?" he asked a patrolling wolf-human pair.

"Not for long. He has something he wants to leave for soon. You'd better run," the human said, stepping aside. Itachi did so.

Sakumo furrowed his brow. "Um…"

"Itachi."

"Itachi. Right. I was just about to go. Is it quick?"

"Hidan wants your phone number so he can ask you questions about dogs."

Sakumo gave it. Itachi wrote it down in a text message to Hidan, adding, He's busy right now, but maybe in a few hours. Itachi hit Send and wondered if there was any relation between Sakumo's and Konan's midday activities. He bowed his head once and thanked Sakumo, then left to look for Ruta and Kusa.

Kusa looked better groomed and happier. He was chatting with another person, who showed him a sketchbook. Nothing but good news to report here. Itachi walked up and asked if Ruta was around.

Kusa gave him an odd look. "He's at work."

That's right! He works with Sasori! Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I was not aware he had stable employment."

"Yeah, a regular 9 to 5," the person with the sketchbook said. "He's doing okay, but it tires him. He doesn't hang out here much anymore. He likes to spend time at the sunning area."

"The sunning area?"

"It's upriver from the lake," Kusa said.

Itachi was intrigued by this sunning area. It sounded restful, but in what way? Would I like to sun? He thanked them both and retraced his steps, leaving the campground and crossing the forest again. He reached the lake and followed the river upstream. It eventually occurred to him that this was not the main purpose of his mission. Oh, well, too late to go back now.

He heard a rumbling sound like thunder well before he was able to see the rocks. He came upon several people rolling weighted hula hoops down stone platforms of various slopes. They seemed to be trying to make the hoops crash into each other. The stones had been angled to prevent this, so it was a challenge. As Itachi watched from the shadow of the trees, one of them gave up and twirled his hoop overhead before throwing it directly at another. The crash made quite a noise. Everyone cheered.

Itachi clapped. "An excellent throw," he called as he stepped from the shadows.

"Hey, it's one of those cloaks," someone pointed out.

Itachi blinked. He'd gotten so used to it that he forgot he was wearing it. "Yes, it's new."

The one who had thrown the hoop scrambled down from the top of the steepest rock. Patches of green dotted his skin, and his green eyes watched Itachi intently. "Hi there. I'm Satori."

"Itachi." They shook hands.

"Do you want to join in?"

Itachi smiled. My Sharingan would allow me to devastate them! He activated it and said, "By all means."

The others behind Satori froze. "Woah."

"That's one of the eyes Ruta mentioned in his thing," Satori said. "Which one was it again?"

"The Sharingan, and it allows me to track moving things with unerring precision."

A grin spread over Satori's face. "You have to join." He grabbed Itachi's hand and pulled him over to one of the sloped rocks. He instructed Itachi to climb on top of it. He gave Itachi a hoop. Then he picked up a hoop for himself, climbed to the top of the tallest rock, and threw his hoop up in the air.

The Sharingan seemed to perform a full brain's worth of processing on its own, calculating not just the hoop's movements but how it would move in response to strikes at every possible point and how much force Itachi would need. His mouth fell open in amazement. He threw his hoop and watched as the two hoops crashed together and careened off at exactly the angles he had foreseen. My gods. The possibilities are infinite.

Satori cackled madly and signaled for everyone else to keep the hoops coming. There were four hoops now. He and Itachi, and sometimes a third participant, threw them and rolled them in endless different configurations. Itachi could not think of a better way to train the Sharingan. His ears got so used to the crashing sound that he almost stopped hearing it. He only stopped after a long, unknown length of time had passed because he was out of breath. At first, he did not know why. Then, as he realized how deafening the silence was and how still the world looked, he clapped his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, deactivating the Sharingan. I feel woozy. Did I use too much chakra?

Itachi opened his eyes just long enough to leap down from the rock. Then he closed them again. A stabbing pain in the center of his forehead that he had been ignoring flared up. He sank to his knees with a sigh. He heard someone speaking in panicked tones, and the sound made him wince. I have heard and seen too much. My senses are overwhelmed.

A friendly hand fell on his shoulder. "Does it hurt to use the Sharingan too much?" he heard Satori ask.

Itachi gasped twice before replying. "The Sharingan takes in more visual information than a normal eye. I feel like I've been watching a whole carnival's worth of flashing lights for six hours. And the sound…"

"Sensory overload," Satori said, his voice hardly more than a grave whisper. Itachi soon found a sleeping mask being placed over his eyes and what felt like cotton balls shoved into his hands. He held them against his ears, where they did a wonderful job muffling everything but the sound of his own blood. His breathing soon eased.

After around five minutes of listening to his own heartbeat, his ears felt rested enough that he lowered the cotton balls and spoke to Satori. "Satori? Did you have sensory aides…on you?"

"Yeah," Satori said. "When they're needed, they're needed. No different than keeping a spare pad in a purse."

"You are an exceptionally considerate person."

"Hehe." Embarrassment was audible. "Thanks."

A few more minutes later, Satori tapped him on the shoulder. Itachi lowered the cotton balls. "Someone's coming," Satori said.

The photographic memory the Sharingan provided lingered in front of Itachi's eyes, stimulating his visual sense even though he was wearing the mask. This slowed his recovery. His eyes were not nearly rested enough to remove the mask yet. "Who is it?"

"He has orange hair."

Itachi sat up. "Yahiko? He has the power to soothe away pain. He would be a great help." Satori left. Itachi took off the sleep mask. The light that came through his closed eyelids was tolerable. He experimentally opened his eyes and found that he could not even focus them. He closed them again and waited for Yahiko.

"Itachi? Oh my goodness. Hold still. What happened?" Itachi felt hands placing themselves almost directly over his eyes. He knew it the instant Yahiko started channeling chakra. The throbbing ache in the middle of his forehead vanished.

"That feels wonderful," Itachi murmured. "I think my eyes are physically strained. Healing jutsu may be able to help."

"Okay. Trying healing jutsu now."

"I'll let you know if it worked when you stop soothing the ache away with chakra. But don't stop now. This feels wonderful."

"Okay. Tell me when you want to stop."

A blissful, heavenly minute later, Itachi asked him to stop. He waited for the lingering effects of soothing to wear off. Then he opened his eyes. His eyes almost immediately closed themselves. They were still exhausted. But they no longer hurt.

"Is something still wrong?" Yahiko asked.

"My eyes are no longer strained," Itachi told him. "But the visual part of my brain is still reeling from sensory overload. I used the Sharingan for a long time to look at visually intense things. It takes in so much more information than a regular eye. That was not a good idea."

"How do you recover from that?"

"Lying in bed helps. I would need your guidance."

"Sure thing." Yahiko helped him to his feet. Itachi thanked Satori again, explained to Yahiko what he had done, and returned the sleep mask. Then he and Yahiko set off.

"The river is 3 feet in front of us," Yahiko warned. Itachi stepped onto the river without stumbling, his chakra adjusting easily. "I'll tell you when we leave the water." Sometime later: "The lake shore is 3 feet in front of us." Itachi stepped onto the dirt without stumbling. They walked uphill into the forest. Yahiko stopped. "There are so many roots and dips in the ground. I can't possibly warn you about them all. Uh… Walk like you're marching. That should get you over most of it."

Itachi was, as any human would be, skittish about walking while not being able to see. He fought against the repeated urge to open his eyes. But as Yahiko demonstrated a sincere commitment and, more importantly, competence at being a substitute pair of eyes, the urge lessened and Itachi felt more at ease. He lifted his feet straight up and brought them straight down, like he was marching. They did not move as fast as normal, but Yahiko matched his pace with no sign of impatience. "Hold," he called out. "Your foot's coming down on a big root. Move it forward." Itachi did so gladly.

"This is very nice," he told Yahiko. "Like a trust exercise, but I really can trust you. It feels wonderful to entrust another with my most basic needs and have it work out. Most people wouldn't be able to be my eyes, because I quite literally see differently than they do."

Yahiko tugged his hand, pulling Itachi to the left. Itachi felt the very tip of a woody branch brush against his right shoulder. "Hehe, thank you. Helping people is what I want to do, so, I guess I just take it seriously."

"Then you ought to do something like this more often," Itachi told him. "Practice seeing through another's eyes. It may lessen your tendency to get stuck in your own perspective when you are alone."

"It does feel good to see the forest the way you need me to see it. I'm noticing so many things I never noticed before. I'm sorry your eyes got hurt, obviously, but… Thank you?"

"You're welcome."

Yahiko giggled nervously again.

They made it home without Itachi tripping on anything. He was grinning by the end of it. The immensity of his appreciation could not be conveyed in words, so he squeezed Yahiko's hand and channeled a bit of chakra. Yahiko laughed and elbowed him back. I am understood.

"What's going on here?" Kakuzu snarled.

"Itachi got eye strain," Yahiko said. "I brought him back so he could rest."

"Aagh, fuck," Hidan cursed. "His bed's not that far inside. Looks like sparring's over, Kakuzu."

Yahiko led Itachi across the backyard, then stopped. "We're right at the base of the steps. Start climbing." Itachi climbed the steps with ease. "Hold on for a bit." Yahiko opened the door. "Now follow me."

Itachi sat on his bed with a pleased sigh. "Perhaps I will invite you to do this for me when my eyes have recovered. It is pleasant for me, and would be a form of mental training for you."

Yahiko laughed. "That would be great! And totally call me if you ever get into trouble with the Sharingan again. And, uh, get some rest. Good rest. I was there to practice my healing jutsu, so I'll go back and do that."

"Ah, of course. Good luck."

Itachi went to sleep smiling. My friends understand me, and I can trust them. What a miracle!

.

A/N: A miracle indeed...

Anywhoos, this was fun. See you all next week.