The Rise of the Uzumaki

Itachi had felt the weight of each new piece of Tai's information like a stone added to his stomach.

It seemed she hadn't shared nearly as much with him as he'd thought she had, and he couldn't help but think her hesitance to trust him was one of two things; either it was due to his age and her not thinking he was able to help carry her burden, or she simply did not think she could trust him to be on her side long term.

He spent the better part of ten minutes being upset about this. He'd considered himself a good friend all this time, learning now he'd been subpar at best was unacceptable. Itachi dedicated half of his mind to listening to the conversation around him, and the other half was busy making plans that could potentially elevate him back to his rightful 'best friend' status before it was too late.

Then Genma had admonished Tai for not trusting them.

He ceased planning upon hearing her reasoning for distrusting them; that they were all beholden to Konoha, bound by oath to do as they are bidden by the Hokage, whereas her goal was to toil for the sake of all. Itachi felt his anger and hurt begin to recede as he processed this new information.

Tai had a point, no matter how that had antagonized Hatake Kakashi and hurt his feelings.

Tai's intent was to do what she could to avert a world-ending threat by infiltrating the organization that had been targeted and manipulated into accomplishing the task. Meanwhile, as stated, she wasn't trying to get them to give up their goal of establishing peace, rather she was trying to influence them into changing their methods.

If whatever it was she was doing worked, then there would be peace. Or at least there would be a tenuous beginning to peace.

Itachi found himself curious to ask what it was she was leading the Akatsuki to do to establish such an impossible yet coveted goal – he assumed she planned to subvert the power of the five Great Shinobi Nations to accomplish it. That was the only way forward that he could see. A dangerous task; it would make her an enemy of the most powerful people in the world. Did she realize this? Did she know she her actions would paint a target on her back that could make her public enemy number one?

He wondered how long it would take before she had the highest bounty placed on her head, and if she could survive the onslaught of assassins that would come.

The next question he'd found himself pondering, before Akuma showed up and rattled them, had been; 'What can I do to help? How can I save Tai...'

He didn't want to lose her, but she was heading down a path that he may not be able to follow. Not as things were.

Itachi still pondered these questions as they were dumped unceremoniously onto a cold stone floor in a large, open, torch lit sitting room – underground, he realized.

He bounced back faster than Tai, unsurprising as it seemed that she didn't spend enough time training, and rose to his feet with his back to her. He spread into a defensive stance and glared straight ahead, sharingan active as the shadowy figure that called himself Akuma took form.

Akuma's chakra was odd, Itachi had never seen anything like it. It was as if his chakra did not flow; it smoldered. Breathing. Like a separate living entity inside his body. This must have been what Shisui had tired to explain before Akuma began speaking and had interrupted him.

No matter. Itachi would find a way to let Tai get all the information she was looking to learn from this man. When it was time, he would get them both out of this situation.

"Okay that was a little over dramatic." Itachi heard Tai groan and shift against the ground, he didn't look away from the potential enemy even though he wanted to check on his friend. He told himself that if she was speaking then she was breathing and that meant she was alive. For now, that was enough.

"You alright Tachi?"

He merely nodded once to answer her as Akuma spoke up, folding his arms over his chest and scoffing indignantly with an annoyed glare.

"You're both fine, god, and you accuse me of being dramatic?" He rolled his eyes before flashing a threatening grin. "If I wanted you dead you'd already be cannon fodder for my horde. Trust that. And you, boy, put the fancy eyes away. They don't scare me and while I don't have your soul like I have hers I did send you a nice power up because of that connection so be grateful."

Itachi's eyes narrowed, wondering what Akuma meant by that or if he was being manipulated into feeling gratitude towards this unknown entity. Either way, he wasn't going to give Akuma the satisfaction of his curiosity. At least not until he knew more about what this man wanted from him and Tai.

Unfortunately, Tai was not on the same page as him.

"What power up?" She asked, and Itachi tried to breathe through his rising irritation.

She really didn't think before she spoke, did she? He both admired her candor and wanted to slap a hand over her mouth to stop her from getting them into trouble.

Tai always got them into trouble. Two years apart hadn't changed that.

"Crows, obviously." Itachi's brow raised, giving away his surprise as Akuma waved a dismissive hand, turning to step deeper into the room where a table and chairs were set up.

The crow contract came to him through Shisui, so what was Akuma implying?

If Akuma was speaking true, then he'd been watching both he and his friend for a while now, somehow.

"Those onyx feathered harbingers are mine to distribute as I see fit and I sent them to you, so I'd take a thank-you. But I can see we're gonna have to warm up to each other." Akuma sighed heavily as he dropped into one of the chairs, raising both of his legs to the table and crossing them at his ankles, appearing relaxed. Itachi didn't trust that. "You're always like this when you reincarnate, you know. It's such a drag because she likes you more than me so when you're both around at the same time she always picks you; King of Stoicism."

Itachi did not react. To the insinuation or the insult. (Was it an insult? He didn't feel offended by it…) Akuma seemed to be sharing information with remarkable ease, and Itachi thought the man could say what he wanted so long as Itachi learned what he needed to. To that end it did not matter what was said to hi–

"Hey!" Tai snapped, stepping around him with an angry glare. Itachi's hand snapped out to grasp her wrist, halting her advance.

He couldn't stop her mouth, though.

"One; don't bully him or I'm going to get really pissed off," Tai held up a finger with her available hand and did nothing to free herself from his grasp. There was a warmth in his chest at her immediate defense of him, despite how much he wanted her to stop talking. A second finger rose to join the first and her aggressive stance relaxed. "Two; what's this business about reincarnation? And Three; who and what are you?"

Yes, he was curious about this as well. He inferred from the curious conversation inside the gate house that Tai had reincarnated before and her soul was attached to Akuma through some sort of bond and… Well, it wasn't confirmed yet but Itachi was under the impression that Tai already knew she was reincarnated.

The evidence was in the way she'd responded to Akuma's assertions back at the gate house.

Pairing this observation with Tai informing them of her overly developed mind for a child of her age and his theory made sense. Then there was also Genma's quip about Tai seeming to have known things before she was abducted, and Tai hadn't refuted that…

Tai had once told him that sometimes he should employ a theory she called 'Occam's Razor,' because he had a tendency to 'over analyze to his own detriment.' Shisui had once said something along those lines as well, so he'd taken both of their opinions into account in this...

Thus the simplest answer may well be the most probable. But he needed more information to truly understand.

"Now that's a long story," Akuma taunted, smirking as he kicked two chairs in front of him one by one so they'd face the room and gestured to them, returning his legs to the table, "you two have a seat so I can tell you all about it."

Tai looked at him, and he slowly blinked back at her. She glanced at her wrist and he realized he still held it in his hand.

He shook his head at her to indicate that he wasn't letting her out of his reach. Tai rolled her eyes but accepted it.

Chakra chains or no, his sharingan could show him what Akuma's next move might be and he'd rather be able to get Tai out of danger immediately than take the chance of letting her get hurt. So instead of releasing his hold, he started walking towards the chairs and scooted his closer to hers so he didn't have to let go as they both sat down.

Akuma slapped his hands together and Tai jumped. Itachi tried not to judge how reactive she was – but it was becoming increasingly evident that she hadn't had much training in her years with the Akatsuki. Or if she had, it hadn't been up to par with the training he'd received between his father, jonin sensei, and Shisui.

Tai acted like a civilian with shinobi abilities.

Itachi couldn't see that ending well in the future and resolved to have a talk with her about this before they parted ways again.

"My name is Ōtsutsuki Akuma, first born son of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo; The Sage of Six Paths."

The name Ōtsutsuki did not escape Itachi, nor did Akuma's claim of being the son of the Sage of Six Paths.

This was the second time that day Itachi had heard of this man, but he didn't know the story – hadn't had the opportunity to ask when Tai had mentioned him before.

Itachi felt as though he'd been dropped into the center of an ongoing saga and was missing all of the context.

As confused as he was, Tai was noticeably unfazed. Further proving to him that she'd already known about being reincarnated and knew exactly what Akuma was talking about.

"You're not supposed to exist– how do you exist?" Tai's face said it all, corroborated by her wording. She knew. Far more than she'd let on even when she was debriefing his team on her personal, self-imposed, mission.

"Perhaps in one version of this universe I didn't," Akuma shrugged, returning his hand behind his head, "and neither did you, so I don't know… cope harder I guess?" Itachi saw Tai's eyes narrow out of his peripheral vision. "As for how, well, I made a deal with the Shinigami for immortality about a thousand-ish years ago when it became clear my little brothers were going to duke out their differences for like… eternity or whatever. Again, I'm the dramatic one?"

"Pardon, but it seems my knowledge is limited. I require elaboration." Itachi interjected just as Tai opened her mouth to retort. She snapped her mouth shut and looked over at him, apology written all over her face. He didn't want her apology, he wanted all of the information so he could decide how best to proceed so he could help her. "If you don't mind."

"Aww~" Akuma smiled, and Itachi had the impression he was being condescending. "I take it back, you might be the most polite reincarnation of Uchiha Junpei yet. Maybe we'll get along this tim–" he started laughing halfway through his statement, lowering one hand from behind his head to slap his thigh, Itachi was wrapping his head around the idea of being a reincarnation and almost missed the last part of Akuma's statement through the man's laughter; "sorry, I couldn't finish that. Too much bullshitting, even for me. We're 0 for 27."

"Strike two." Itachi heard Tai say, voice a few octaves higher than a growl. He could feel the darkness in her tone before he glanced at her to see her glower fixed on the Ōtsutsuki. "27?"

"Yeah, I'm so intimidated. Look at me, trembling in my chakra-created ensemble, existing in a non-tangible form." Akuma rolled his red eyes and threw his arm back behind his head. "Anyway you should catch him up to speed on what's really going on with you before we get started – the whole truth. You reincarnated together and that makes you partners. You have an important job to do involving the aforementioned annoying little brothers. He needs to know what's going on."

Itachi felt Tai go rigid.

Frowning, he loosened his hold on her wrist and let her hand slip so he could capture it.

Maintaining his calm when Tai was on the verge of doing the opposite was his best course for now. He turned his eyes away from Akuma for a moment, convinced he wasn't going to attack them at this point, to stare at his friend.

This was his opportunity to push her for more information, with the assistance of someone else who seemed to know exactly what she was hiding.

"Tell me everything, Tai." Itachi said, meeting her wide eyes and seeing the fear in them. Whether she was afraid he'd be upset with her or afraid for the unknown future, the job they allegedly had to do, or something else he wasn't sure. But he smiled softly at her to set her at ease. "I'm still your best friend, right?"

Tai nodded, unblinking as the rim of her eyes reddened and the shimmer of tears were lit by the flickering torch on the wall nearest them. He squeezed her hand to comfort her and she squeezed back once.

"Then trust me and tell me everything," he urged.

"She doesn't want to because you're eight years old." Akuma interjected but Itachi didn't look away from Tai, who's tears fell freely now and she pulled her feet up to the chair and rested her forehead on her knees when her body gave a big shudder. She hadn't released his hand, Itachi took that as a good sign. "She thinks she'll be robbing you of your childhood if she tells you the whole truth – his childhood has already been taken, kid. He's more mature than you are."

Itachi was beginning to tire of people underestimating him based on his age. He didn't think this was a problem he'd run into with Tai, of all people, as she was almost a full year younger than him. But here they were.

Tai snorted, even though her body was shaking and they both could tell she was crying. When she responded, it was muffled but Itachi could hear her.

"That's not surprising," she mumbled, then lifted her head and used her free hand to swipe her hair and the evidence of her tears out of her eyes before she looked over at him with a watery smile that was self-deprecating and Itachi decided he didn't like it. "I don't know where to start."

"He's Itachi," Akuma said before Itachi could say anything, "you begin by telling him the truth about Naruto and Sasuke, and follow up with how and why you know any of it so he understands why you never told him."

Itachi felt his heart drop into his stomach and suddenly nothing was more urgent than learning every single thing Tai had been hiding. How did it involve Sasuke, and how dangerous was it?

Sasuke and Tai were the most important people in the world to him. It was his staunch conviction that they were his to protect. Sasuke because he was Itachi's little brother. Tai because not only was she his best friend, but also his betrothed. One day, she'd be his wife.

Family. They were his family. His Otousan taught him that it is a man's duty to protect his family above all – Tai and Sasuke were his. If something happened to either of them, anything more than what had already happened like with Tai's kidnapping, Itachi didn't know what he'd do.

But he did know one thing.

Anyone who harmed either of them would be answering directly to him.

Itachi was overcome with a need to know everything. What did he need to train for, to battle? Who was the enemy, where were they, and what were their motives, abilities, etc? He needed the details to develop a preventative plan, or help Tai with hers. Whatever must be done.

Tai swallowed and nodded once. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she took a deep breath to speak.

"Earlier, when I said I wasn't the hero of this story, that's because the heroes of this story are two years old and they have a long way to go before they're ready to face what I hope to stop before it ever becomes a problem. Everything I'm doing–" Tai swallowed, her gaze set and determined when she stared at him and he knew she was being honest, "-everything I will continue to do, it's to protect them. Naruto and Sasuke."

For the second time, Itachi watched his best friend. Only this time, instead of a serene smile to placate her, his own gaze mimicked hers. Hard set and determined. He squeezed her hand and reiterated his earlier demand.

"Tell me everything."

#

Kakashi had been right, Uzumaki Taifū was indeed utterly unpredictable. She was turning out to be far more interesting than Shisui had expected - even after the whole pirate takedown situation. He really didn't think she could've topped that, but she had. Everything she'd said and done since he'd met her…

Adult-brain? World ending parasitic aliens? What?!

And 'Helping the Akatsuki redirect their methods' insinuated a lot of things. Judging by who Taifū seemed to be as a person, Shisui believed she truly meant to help them try to establish a lasting peace, instead of simply dismantling their organization. An interesting choice that, perhaps, had something to do with the man who lead it? Shisui couldn't be sure.

In keeping with this Uzumaki unpredictability, Shisui was also now intrigued by the leader of the Akatsuki himself; Uzumaki Nagato.

Taifū had said; "He has issues justifying the inequality of suffering and wishes to narrow that gap, or relieve it."

This statement clashed with the debriefing they'd been given on this mission before they had left Konoha.

Uzumaki Nagato was alleged to have seized power in Amegakure without anyone's knowledge, and led the Akatsuki organization whose aims were (at the time of the debriefing) unknown. He had also claimed that he rescued the Fourth's children from their captor, and was using clan rights to keep them under his wing instead of returning them to Konoha.

Hokage-sama had described a fearsome man with a legendary dojutsu more powerful than the Sharingan or the Byakugan. Such a kekkei genkai was near inconceivable – but the information had come from Jiraiya-sama so Shisui believed it.

All of which made Uzumaki Nagato sound like an enemy of Konoha. One that was just waiting for the best opportunity to strike against the village.

Taifū's version, what he'd heard thus far anyway, painted a far different picture.

Shisui assumed the truth was somewhere in the middle of both. Either way, he was interested in learning whatever the truth was. Other than finding time to sequester Taifū alone away from everyone and get her to talk to him about it, there was no way of learning anything, though.

So he resigned himself to seizing the opportunity when it arose, if it arose.

Right now, he was a bit preoccupied with the fact that this was twice now that Taifū had been abducted whilst in the presence of skilled Leaf shinobi. It was kind of insulting.

To him, anyway.

His Captain didn't seem insulted. Oh no.

Hatake Kakashi was furious. Little sparks of his electric chakra kept snapping between the strands of his silver hair and Shisui had purposely ensured there was at least six feet of distance between them due to this alone. Then there was the malignant chakra that radiated off of him here and there when he lost the slim thread of control he had on his emotions over this situation.

With Itachi having been taken right along with her, the only thing keeping Shisui rational at the moment was the fact that he knew Itachi well enough to never underestimate him, unlike Genma and Kakashi.

That, and as Taifū had said, it didn't seem like Akuma had malicious intentions.

So Shisui was far calmer than the other two as they stood in front of the Torii gate, searching for a way inside the ruined city of Uzushiogakure.

"There's a dome of chakra – it rises from just beyond the parapet and curves well into the sky," Shisui informed the remnants of his team where they stood, hard stares trained on the entrance of the city, all of them scrambling to figure out a way through. "Whatever jutsu this is… I'd say it encompasses the entire city."

"It's fūinjutsu," Kakashi told them, voice darker and more serious than he'd been throughout the entire mission thus far. Shisui couldn't blame him for being upset; he was emotionally compromised by his relationship with Taifū.

That being said, he wondered about the wisdom of sending Kakashi after her in the first place.

Surely it was torture, to be so close to someone he cares about only to learn she was throwing herself head first into danger and chasing a dream that might as well be unachievable. To hear her say she would never return home. And to be right there, within grabbing distance, only to be able to do nothing as she was taken away. For a second time.

Kakashi was understandably angry. But Shisui had a suspicion that Kakashi's anger was mostly directed at himself.

And he didn't think that was fair, but wisely he kept his musings to himself. They wouldn't help Kakashi, nor were they relevant to this situation. Their goal was to retrieve Itachi and Taifū.

"Any ideas on how to find or create a break in the seals, then?" Genma asked, laying a hand on the red gate and looking over his shoulder at them. "Shisui, do you see any?"

"No," he answered, he'd been looking for them. He didn't have the distance range of a Byakugan. "But I can circle and look–"

"Don't waste your time, they're buried," Kakashi interrupted crouching down to palm the dirt, "the Uzumaki were a crafty and creative people. For all we know, the seals could be placed on small pebbles buried a thousand feet in the earth."

"Begs the question; how did they lose if their city is impenetrable?" Shisui asked under his breath, deactivating his sharingan to give his eyes a brief rest, he was starting to get a mild headache from the strain.

"That's a good question. Do you think that the invaders found another way in?" Genma offered, turning away from the gate to look at them both. "If the seals are buried, maybe they found a way to go under them?"

"Worth a shot," Kakashi shrugged, and then he was flying through the hand signs necessary for an earth release. Shisui and Genma shot out of the way just in time for Kakashi to disappear into a crater he'd created in the ground.

"I don't think it would be as easy as just going underneath the seals…" Shisui said while Kakashi was attempting to do just that. "What do we know about the battle?"

Genma's senbon bobbed, brows snapped together. "Not much. Just that the Uzumaki nearly won against an onslaught of about fifteen thousand with their own numbers severely depleted; down to two hundred. A laughable comparison. It's shocking to know they'd almost won. Kakashi might know more than that."

"I don't," Kakashi rejoined them, dusting the dirt off of his jonin uniform, "our intel about the Siege of Uzushio is S-rank and locked behind special permissions from the Hokage. I haven't been given the clearance. I'll be asking once we return, but that does us no good now," Kakashi folded his arms over his chest and glared at the gate, "can't get underneath the seals, I went pretty far down and the shield was still in place."

"Then maybe there's another way that goes even deeper? Like a cave or something?" Shisui offered, just to give some kind of idea because he saw no breaks in the flow of the jutsu. It was impressive, really.

Genma opened his mouth to speak, but shut it the second they all felt the approach of two faintly repressed chakra signatures. Seconds later, the Akatsuki members dropped among them with their cloaks billowing in the wind as they descended from the trees and Shisui felt his stomach drop.

These guys probably weren't going to be very understanding of them losing Taifū.

"Sooooo~" the masked man, Tobi, began with his friendly tone. "Where's my sweet little Fū-chan, Leaf guys? Pretty sure I entrusted her to you with assurances she'd be returned in tip top condition, right?"

"Some guy that called himself Akuma materialized, made some bold claims about ownership, then took her and one of ours into the city." Kakashi informed them without a preamble, ripping it off like a bandage. Shisui thought he could have worded it more diplomatically. They weren't here to fight the Akatsuki, but it seemed that Kakashi didn't care much for Tobi. "He said he'd return them without a fight if we can find a way into the city."

Sasori's eyes closed and his voice was nearly growling when he spoke, ignoring them completely in favor of addressing Tobi.

"Tell Leader-sama I'm not working with her again until she's better trained, she's been a damn menace this entire time and I have my own work to do, I can't keep babysitting."

Tobi ignored Sasori, standing tall and unmoving. His mask faced Kakashi, and Kakashi faced him.

Tension rose all around them, a weak but sinister killing intent wafting off the masked figure and Shisui's sharingan swirled back to the surface of its own accord as he sensed the threat.

"Well that just won't do," Tobi's voice changed, sudden and jarring, his tone was dark and menacing and Shisui braced for a fight (could they win against these guys without using his mangekyou? Shisui wasn't too certain) when Kakashi's muscles tightened to do the same. "You just fucked up, Kakashi."

The masked man drew a blade and in one swift movement, stabbed himself in the leg, despawning instantly.

"A shadow clone?" Genma said, frowning while the air cleared and the oppressive chakra faded with the clone of Tobi.

"These two, making plans without me. This is why I don't like having partners," Sasori grumbled, turning his eyes onto them. "Don't get comfortable," Sasori advised, shuffling past them toward the gate, "the real one will be here momentarily and he's going to be furious."

Shisui was not prepared for the burst of overwhelming and suffocating killing intent that hit as soon as the real Tobi materialized before them in a swirl of red, black, and orange just seconds later. A glowing red mangekyou sharingan stood out in the darkness of the eye hole of his mask.

'An Uchiha?!' Shisui thought, shocked. 'Tobi's an Uchiha?!'

He wanted to speak aloud, to warn Kakashi and Genma, but Shisui found himself unable to say anything to his team about it. He'd never felt chakra this oppressive this close before. It was comparable to being near the Nibi when it had been released, but he'd not been close enough to find it difficult to breathe like he was now.

Perhaps he simply hadn't had enough exposure to this kind of anger? But Shisui knew one thing. Sasori was right, Tobi was absolutely furious, and that cleared up a little bit of his personal questions about Taifū's standing in the Akatsuki. Sasori might believe her a 'menace' but despite his grumbling he did not leave, nor did he say anything that indicated he wasn't concerned. Tobi's reaction–

Taifū was very important to Tobi, his jovial words from earlier weren't just a deception to make it seem like he cared about her. He really did, that much was clear.

"Ka Ka Shi," Tobi dragged out the Captain's name, each syllable a sharp hiss in that new, deep, threatening voice of his that made a shiver run down Shisui's spine, "this is the reason Taifū and Naruto could not be left in Konoha. You cannot be trusted to keep anyone safe."

'What?' Shisui wondered at the tone, the words, the very implication.

Because that sounded as if Taifū and Naruto were taken by Tobi.

Shisui saw Kakashi's mask move, like he was getting ready to speak, but Tobi interrupted him.

"I am not interested in your excuses. Open your mouth right now and it will be the last time you ever speak in this realm. Do not test me." Tobi threatened, turning his head towards the other Akatsuki member. 'Realm?,' Shisui wondered. "Sasori, do you have any puppets with kekkei genkai that can do something to get us through that barrier?"

"Possibly," the puppet master said and there was a series of clicking noises from him before the back opened up and out stepped a short, slender, russet red haired young man with eyes that held no emotion at all. "Though I would like to be on record stating that you're all underestimating the girl."

It seemed like Shisui was the only one who agreed with that as the real Akasuna no Sasori opened a scroll and summoned a menacing looking puppet, raising a hand of chakra strings.

"The prize of my gold collection," Sasori announced with a proud inflection to his voice, "Hiruko."

Shisui's own eyes widened as he observed the puppet that burst forth. S-rank missing nin, formerly of the Leaf. Hiruko of the Third Shinobi War, once considered a friend of the Sannin. He was said to have the Chimera technique and with it he'd stolen kekkei genkai… he was a fugitive with a high bounty and according to the most recent bingo book no one had seen him in a couple of years.

Evidently this was because he'd been caught and killed. Now he was a puppet, under the command of Akasuna no Sasori.

"Y–you, how did you? Why?" Genma stepped back, eyes widened in the same horrified way that Shisui felt his own.

"Sasori is a collector of sorts," Tobi said, still maintaining that dark, sinister sounding voice and Shisui realized that this must be his real personality. The other was just a persona.

"To be a part of my specialized collection, to take part in eternity, it is an honor few are worthy of," Sasori said in an unhinged way that made Shisui want to recoil like Genma had, sick to his stomach, "now silence. I'm going to use his dark release to absorb some of this chakra and see if I can't create a break in the cities defenses."

#

"…so I only withheld everything from you because it's a huge burden to lay on the shoulders of a kid. Not that I'm saying I think you're incapable, because I know better than anyone that you're not."

Tai's tone had been quiet throughout her entire explanation, chin resting on her knees, eyes on the floor and her free arm wrapped around her shins. Itachi had not dropped her hand the whole time, even when it got hot and sweaty, because he thought that the second he did she'd think he was upset with her and she might struggle to continue the story.

He wasn't upset with her.

Irritated, sure. That was becoming a frequent state of his where Tai was concerned, but he was not upset.

She shouldn't have simply insinuated that there was a need to second guess the governing authority of the village. He wished she would have told him about Danzō earlier on, he would've known what to do when he was in that confrontation with Foundation ANBU alongside Shisui several months ago.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre… 'Clan Killer Itachi.'

What he'd done to Sasuke… how could he have done something so monstrous?

Itachi couldn't believe that in the version of this world that Tai had seen play out he'd actually slaughtered his entire clan and tortured his precious little brother… the very notion was preposterous. To have been manipulated into such a drastic action, to have made such an impossible decision to protect Sasuke and the village.

At thirteen.

Just a few short years from his current age.

It made his chest ache to think about it. It must've tortured that version of him to have hurt Sasuke like that. To have killed his parents, his friends, everyone–

He couldn't imagine what that had done to him and his heart sank for a version of him that he right now, this moment, promised himself he would never become.

"Do you think this is still Danzō's aim?" Itachi managed to break through his own thoughts to ask, stomach churning. He was glad he did not eat that onigiri earlier, it would not have settled well.

"Has your clan been moved to the outskirts of the village?" Tai asked, turning her head to face him but leaving her cheek pressed against her knees.

He nodded, and she nodded back. "Then yes, and it won't be long before he forces your parents into making you join ANBU to prove the clan's loyalty to the village. He wants to collect sharingan, and he's already got at least one. Shisui's grandfather's mangekyou sharingan. He'll go after Shisui's, too."

Itachi felt his anger burn his insides at the idea that someone would try to take Shisui's eyes from him. Despite his own misgivings about the sharingan, appropriating the eyes of his clansmen, especially his friend's eyes, was abominable and anyone who tried would be forgoing their own.

With that thought, Itachi had decided.

Anyone who tried to steal Uchiha eyes would experience the permanent loss of their own.

"Hokage-sama—"

"—wIll not hear reason when it comes to Danzō."

"You've got that right," Akuma interrupted with a derisive snort, his feet thudding to the stone floor and he stood swiftly with his hands on his hips. He'd been quiet throughout Tai's explanation. "Danzō can convince Hiruzen to sanction unspeakable, atrocious acts. Like the Uchiha Massacre in the other version of this world. Usually I'm down to watch that shit play out, but it's a problem when it fucks with my people," he did a quick twirl, for some unknown reason because Itachi didn't see him use any chakra, and threw his hands wide, "now come with daddy kids, time for a field trip~"

Itachi yanked Tai into his side, frowning at the way she stumbled, as they were once again caught up into that dark mass that Akuma used as transport. This time he was able to remain standing and kept Tai standing as well, despite how she stumbled. He felt the breeze of the wind and smelled the salt in the air when they were deposited back on the ground.

"Shit, I wanted to watch you two fall again. You're too quick to adapt," Akuma whined and Itachi ignored him, scanning the area. "Fucking Uchiha."

Fortune must have been in their favor, because the moon was full that night and it illuminated the ruins of what looked to have been a once great city. Rubble littered the grounds all around them. He eyed the eerie stone and steel structures with the foundations still standing in spiked pieces, edges corroded by the elements over the years.

In front of them stood a large, untouched building that vibrated with chakra. With his sharingan, Itachi could see the swirling of the seals, it was so vibrant and active that it seemed as if the building itself was breathing. Much like Akuma's chakra.

"Kushina came here, she told me about it," Tai said, gently pulling her hand from his and Itachi frowned but allowed it. Keeping his eyes on her as she stepped forward to assess the building. She used the hand he'd been holding to hover over the door. "I can feel it radiating chakra—"

"Yup," was all Akuma said.

Tai turned to look at him with raised brows, prompting him to elaborate.

"What, you want me to tell you what's in there?" Akuma grinned, the moonlight glinting off his sharp teeth. "Oh you're gonna need context for all that bullshit, trust me. You're gonna be furious." He gestured to the building, then flicked his fingers at the ground. "Pop a squat… I'm gonna learn ya a thing or two about the rise and fall of the Uzumaki."

#

"That's not going to work, but it's a good effort."

Shisui had felt the civilian boy's approach since before Kyo had made it to the island's shore. He turned to look at him, Sasori's puppet still attempting to absorb chakra from the dome that surrounded the city. They'd been at it for well over an hour at this point and there wasn't even a break in the shield.

Kakashi, Genma, and Tobi had begun searching for alternate routes inside while Sasori continued his brute force approach. Shisui had been directed to remain at the gate in case Sasori succeeded.

By the rage that was still emanating from Tobi, Shisui would've volunteered to stay right where he was just to put distance between himself and that oppressive chakra. Tobi still would not allow Kakashi to defend himself, every time Kakashi tried to speak Tobi demanded his silence.

Shisui didn't want to be too close when that conflict between them came to a head, but at the same time he wanted to ensure his captain would be alright. He didn't think their team would be fighting the Akatsuki, it went against their orders.

But the Akatsuki didn't have the same orders, and Tobi seemed one minor inconvenience away from trying to kill the Captain.

"I know we're creating a fuss and trying to get into a closed city. Sorry about the disturbance." Shisui apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. Uzumoto Kyo folded his arms over his chest with a raised brow.

"Akuma-sama took Fū, didn't he? He's not going to hurt her, you know. You all have no reason to worry and you're not getting in by besieging the city."

The sama honorific caught Shisui off guard. Intrigued and looking to see if he couldn't learn more, Shisui relaxed his stance to make himself look more friendly and open.

He thought he'd built a good enough rapport with Kyo that afternoon and decided he should put that to the test and see what would come of it while the guy seemed to be in a chatty mood.

"He also swept one of my teammates, Itachi, along with her," Shiusi informed him, sliding his hands into the pockets of his shorts, "we're a little anxious, but I agree that they should both be fine. Akuma-sama did not seem to wish any harm on them. I'm just worried about my friends."

"Friends, huh? Didn't you just meet Fū?"

"Yeah you're right about that but I feel like I've known her for a while," Shisui laughed good naturedly in the face of Kyo's scrutiny. "Itachi talks about her a lot. They've been friends since she was born; their mother's were good friends."

Kyo hummed noncommittally, watching Sasori who's frown was ever deepening as time wore on. Then he sighed and looked back at Shisui, extending his hand and gesturing for him to take it.

"Listen, you and your friend Itachi… maybe it's just because you helped with the bananas earlier or something but I think you guys are alright and I'm a pretty good judge of character–" Kyo explained as Shisui slid his hand into Kyo's, confused but wanting to see where he was going with this, "and I have to do what I can for that Uzumaki brat, or else I risk Akuma-sama's ire. So don't make me regret this."

"Kyo-san?"

Shisui did not get an explanation, nor did he get anything else from Kyo. Instead, his hand warmed and dark intricate markings appeared on his hand and spread up his arm, stopping around the elbow before the markings dulled and then vanished as if they weren't there at all.

"You know fūinjutsu?" Shiusi asked, astonished eyes still on his arm.

'Unpredictable…'

"You don't have to be a ninja to do fūinjutsu, y'know!" Kyo seethed, dropping Shisui's arm like it had burned him and returning to his former petulant stance with his arms folded over his chest. "I'm staying out here to watch these idiots try to get into the city. But you go on in and find your friends."

Shisui didn't need telling twice, he darted through the Torii gate, barely managing to tell Sasori he was going in before he was gone.

#

"So…" Akuma stood in front of Fū and Itachi where they sat waiting on his story, he leaned down until his hands were on his knees and he was bent over to look them in their eyes, he took a deep breath and began; "Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Uzushio where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny–"

"Jesus Christ," Fū groaned and smacked a hand to her forehead. Itachi looked over at her wide eyed, having no idea what she'd just said but probably realizing it was inappropriate, she ignored him in favor of growling at Akuma, "this is not Romeo and Juliet."

"Okay so I'm not Shakespeare," Akuma straightened back up with a satisfied grin, "but it was Romeo and Juliet, on a more dangerous stage and the characters were Uchiha Junpei and Uzumoto Nori."

"What is Romeo and Juliet?" Hearing those names come out of Itachi's mouth, with his very Japanese accent made Fū smile, some of her frustration easing.

Fū had been right earlier when she thought this night was going to be a long one. She just wanted to get it all out, clear the air, and sleep on it. She was exhausted already and she figured they weren't even close to reaching a resolution.

"A story from the other world of a romance between a thirteen year old and a seventeen year old that resulted in six deaths over three days."

"Oh," Itachi nodded, then looked back at Akuma with a soft frown that conveyed his contempt. "I do not like this story."

"Neither do I," Fū assured him.

Akuma was glaring menacingly down at them, the red of his eyes seemed to get brighter and he gnashed his pointed teeth before growling out; "Look you brats, it's my story and I'm gonna tell it how I feel like it."

"Apologies, Akuma-san, please continue." Fū almost grinned when Akuma narrowed his eyes down at Itachi, as if searching for sarcasm.

He wouldn't find any. Itachi was a genuinely polite person.

Even as an adult S-ranked missing nin that was about to kill you. He'd do it politely.

"So like I was saying before someone got all anti western culture," he glared at Fū who adopted an innocent look and fluttered her lashes, "several hundred years ago, I was just hangin' out on my island doing my demon-alien-immortal chillin like a villain thing, and suddenly my island was invaded," he threw his hands wide dramatically. "So I watched these two mainlanders shuffling along, getting deeper into the wilds of this place, and I was like hold up – that guy is straight up dying."

"Your narrative style is top notch," Fū snarked.

"Ha. Fuck you." Akuma cleared his throat, raising one long and thin middle finger at her, " —anyway. Long story short, one of them was one of my descendants, yeah the Uzumaki came from me not Asura don't interrupt me, a young woman named Uzumoto Nori and she was dragging her star crossed, forbidden lover Uchiha Junpei into the island to save him because guess what? Fuckin Zetsu tried stealing his eyes but ended up destroying them instead because he's a fucking moron. When she brought him to her people to be protected while he healed, because his clan was settled too far away, they tried to kill him because, y'know, loyalty to the Senju and all that."

"The Senju/Uchiha divide went on strong for almost a millennium because the Uchiha are Indra's descendants and the Senju are Asura's." Fū explained to Itachi, who'd glanced at her for clarification. She'd given him a run down about Indra and Asura when she'd had to explain that Sasuke and Naruto were their reincarnations, so he understood what had happened between the brothers. He'd also learned all about Zetsu, and he hadn't been pleased to know he was still around and the one who'd manipulated the Akatsuki. Fū looked back at Akuma. "I was under the impression that the Uzumaki were also Asura's descendants. Why is Naruto Asura's reincarnation if we're not–"

"You guys are Senju, too, on Minato's side." Akuma waved it off when her eyes went wide. "Do you want the story or do you want to keep interrupting?"

"Story, obviously. But I want to know about the Senju thing after–" Fū responded, folding her hands in her lap.

"Take it up with your deadbeat, absentee, child-abandoning grandmother. She's busy cleaning out the Senju fortune and being literally anywhere but Konoha–"

Fū slapped her hands on both of her thighs and nearly shot up, only Itachi's hand on her arm kept her from doing so as she screeched; "No fucking way!"

"Yes fucking way."

"That's a head canon fan theory!"

"It's facts."

"I am missing information again." Itachi's quiet voice interrupted Fū's miniature tirade and she looked back at him, seeing the serenity on his face, and calmed herself.

She really needed to take a page from his book and try to remain calm and controlled. Her Uzumaki genes made that difficult, though. It was in her blood to be crazy.

At least, that's what she was telling herself to justify it.

"He's insinuating that Senju Tsunade, The Slug Princess, is my grandmother. Namikaze Minato's mother."

Akuma snapped his fingers in her face to get her attention as Itachi's eyes widened.

"Hey, focus, it's still story time. Damn, this version of you has the attention span of a Pomeranian on cocaine." Akuma gave a long, suffering sigh and Fū settled back down, ignoring Akuma's jab at her attention span, Itachi's hand dropping from her arm once she was settled.

"SO. I confronted the girl, Nori, and asked what she wanted and why she was bringing the half dead Uchiha onto my property. Well, for context the Uzumoto kind of worship me like a god. Don't look at me like that, I know I'm not a damn god, but they think I am so whatever let them live their lives… sometimes they come to ask me for things." Akuma began right where he left off, leaning against the structure behind him. "Curiously, Nori didn't want me to save Junpei's life. She wanted to strike a deal. First time ever someone didn't ask me to just snap my fingers and fix their problems. Nori wanted to fix her problems herself, she just wanted me to grant her the power to be able to do it."

"So you, what, struck a deal with Nori?" Fū asked, brows snapped together.

"Yup," Akuma popped the 'p' and grinned. "I gave her fūinjutsu. Don't listen to what anyone says, Indra may have been the Father of Ninjutsu, but I'm the Father of Fūinjusu."

"What did she give you in return?" Itachi interrupted Akuma's self-aggrandizing, moving the conversation along.

Fū had a feeling he was getting tired of the way she and Akuma kept getting off track.

"Her soul, her chakra, and her blood. We have a standing contract so long as the soul exists, and I guide it along so it continues to reincarnate in this world, because the number one stipulation of the contract is that when she lives she must do all she can to aid my brother's reincarnations. To a lesser extent of indentured servitude to my aims, Junpei was also roped into the reincarnation stipulation. I don't own his soul, but he does reincarnate to aid my brother's reincarnations. You two, both of you, are this generation's Nori and Junpei. Both siblings of Indra and Asura's incarnations this time... that's never happened before. Usually it's just Junpei that's related to Indra - Nori ends up as more of a bodyguard or an advisor. This last life you were Asura's brother's lover for decades..."

That… actually made a lot of sense to her, thinking about it. She felt a strong need to protect Naruto. Most of it could be attributed to the sibling bond, of course, but it wouldn't be a stretch to believe there was another internal driving force that amplified that need. And her need to save Itachi could stem from that same driving force, since he's the one who got Sasuke so off track in the first place. Or maybe it could just be that she wanted to save her 'partner.'

Fū glanced over at Itachi, seeing him deep in thought just as she was. This was new territory. Another son of the Sage of Six Paths wasn't supposed to exist.

Not only did Akuma exist, but In true overachieving eldest child fashion he'd found a way to interfere in his brother's drama even though he himself was not meant to reincarnate. Not only making himself immortal through an unrevealed and highly suspicious deal with a death god, but he'd gone on to find two souls that he could bend to his will and he made them reincarnate to do his bidding.

Two souls that now resided in her own body, and Itachi's as well.

She was pretty sure this wasn't a thing in the version of the story she knew.

Fucking multiverse theory.

The only saving grace was that Akuma didn't seem to be malicious or have any negative intent.

Regardless, this was a lot to take in, and Fū was certain that once she had some time to herself to think about it she was going to have a melt down. Itachi was getting everything in one fell swoop and if she felt like she was going to freak, she didn't know how Itachi wasn't already losing it.

All this information was changing her perspective on everything… her priority had been Naruto already but she was focusing on so many things at once. Like she had her main quest but she kept picking up side quests along the way, too, and she was getting distracted.

The most overwhelming thought of the moment was that she really needed to get back to Naruto as soon as possible.

"Wait wait, hold up, 'Asura's brother's lover'... this last time? You don't mean..." Fū's brain short circuited, wrapping her head around the implication.

Akuma's grin sharpened. "Oh yeah, your last life was totally banging Senju Tobirama on the low. For like, decades. It was a whole secret relationship, he was crushed when you died and never married despite clan and village pressure."

Well why in the absolute hell couldn't she remember that life instead of the one in the other world?

She'd love to know all about her affair with Tobirama, the sexiest of all Kage. God damn it.

Fū was busy being annoyed over this when Akuma decided to continue on without further comment about her affair with the Nidaime.

"So the day I gave Nori the knowledge of fūinjutsu was the day the Uzumaki clan was born, Nori saved Junpei's life and they inhabited this island," Akuma continued on, either ignoring her internal crisis or he didn't realize she was having one. "Their children populated it. The Uzumoto, seeing how I had 'blessed' the union, decided it was better to bury the hatchet and accept Junpei, which they did when he abandoned his 'Uchiha' name and adopted 'Uzumaki' instead. It took a couple decades but the clan grew large and powerful."

"Their children didn't have the sharingan?" Itachi questioned, allowing his to swirl to the surface for a moment before the red receded and his eyes were dark once more. Fū wondered if that was intentional or if the sharingan just reacted sometimes.

"I sealed Indra's genetic makeup to Junpei to keep the fūinjutsu aptitude stronger than the sharingan in their offspring. A sharingan wielding fūinjutsu master would be just way too overpowered and I didn't want to risk unbalancing things. Not then, anyway."

Fū snorted, nodding along. "Fair enough," at Itachi's questioning look, she explained it to him. "The clans descended from the children of the Sage of Six Paths are already far stronger at our weakest than most others are at their strongest because of our genetic material. We start reproducing together and that's going to create—"

"A super ultra mega clan with bullshit abilities," Akuma finished in a deadpan. "Just look at how strong Tsunade is as an Uzumaki/Senju, and how strong Naruto's going to grow up to be. An Uchiha/Uzumaki? Straight up OP, in need of a nerf. Best to stop that before it happens."

Fū snorted, shaking her head at the videogame reference and opting not to bother explaining it to Itachi.

"What other clans are descended from the Sage?" Itachi asked, looking between Taifu and Akuma, not bothering to ask for elaboration on that joke. She guessed he could infer the meaning based on the context.

"The Kaguya clan out of the Land of Water is descended from Indra, and the Hyuuga are descended from my Uncle Hamura; the Sage's twin brother."

"So…" Fū sucked her teeth, "that was the 'rise' of the Uzumaki. What about the fall?"

"I'm curious as well," a new voice interrupted and Fū startled at the proximity as Shisui settled into a cross legged, seated position right beside her while the other two blinked lazily at him. "This has been an intriguing story - my only regret is not having heard anything before the explanation of Romeo and Juliet. Another story I would be interested to hear." His smile was bright as he nodded at her, ignoring her incredulous look. "Good evening, Taifū. Itachi. Akuma-san."

"Fucking. Uchiha." Akuma grumbled, as if he hadn't known Shisui had been there, because if he was there that meant he'd gotten through the seal work that protected the city. In order to do that, Akuma would've had to know… Shisui was probably the reason they'd relocated outside. Which begged the question; why was Akuma allowing Shisui to listen to everything? Why make it easy on him? "Breaching my walls and shit."

"That's what she said…" Fū joked in English and Akuma choked on his laugh, throwing her a sly grin as she continued, ignoring the Uchiha's questioning looks. "…how did you let the Uzumaki fall if this is your island and these are your protections?" Fu asked, deciding that Shisui had already heard enough damning things if he'd been listening since 'Romeo and Juliet.'

She was probably going to have to explain herself further to him as well.

That worried her, though, because Shisui was an incredibly loyal Konoha shinobi. He, more than Itachi, was likely to report everything to the Hokage. Unless his loyalty to Itachi was stronger than his duty to the village, which it may be. She seemed to remember that he'd promised Itachi i that he'd never betray him.

Fū hoped that was still a promise he'd made in this universe and that Itachi was still on her side after all this.

"I screwed myself, that's what happened," Akuma growled. "So here's the thing kid, most of my power is attached to your soul since we made that agreement. The rest protects the island. When you die and I have to wait for you to reincarnate I'm in this," he gestured to himself with a bitter scowl, "non-tangible form until we can reconnect the way we're supposed to. Which will be when you sign the contract, since the blood changes per reincarnation. So you were dead, and I waited for you to be ready to reincarnate but I was distracted when you were ready and I ended up being too late to snatch your soul and throw it into an Uzumaki child. You ended up in that other world, and I was limited to watching how that played out. So, all that suffering from that life? Yeah, my bad. Sorry about the trauma, you really went through it and I regret that."

"Trauma?" Itachi asked quietly.

Fu ignored it, trying to stop herself from glancing on either side of her at the Uchiha boys as she asked; "Why the hell do I remember it all?"

She felt like she really needed to know the answer to that.

"Because you killed yourself — you can't escape suffering like that. Suffering must be endured and those memories have followed you into the next life because you tried to escape them. It's divine punishment. At least it works out in your favor to have a perfect recall of that life, doesn't it?"

Fuck so she was right, after all. This was hell, remembering the last life was punishment for suicide.

'Damn it. Fucking Catholics.' Fū thought, trying to control her breathing. There was no need to tip off the other two that she was affected by this news, even though she probably already had somehow.

Once again, Itachi's quiet voice asked in the saddest tone she'd ever heard; "Suicide? Tai…"

Sucking in a long, slow, steading breath to ground herself, Fu looked over at him.

"It was really bad at times and I don't want to talk about it." She was as gentle as she could be with her delivery despite feeling like the world was tilting on its axis. "I'm not ready to discuss that life with anyone. When I am, I'll tell you. Okay?"

She could feel Shisui's eyes on her while Itachi nodded with the saddest look on his face, but chose to ignore them both as Akuma continued.

"… so when the enemies came a knockin' I was indisposed and the island's protections didn't hold up when the people inside of it decided to drop them for a gloves off fight to the death. After they'd already wiped each other out with a savage civil war, at that. Seriously, Uzumaki are crazy. I love that about them, and I also hate that about them. As you can see," Akuma threw his arms out and gestured all around them, "this was the result. The remaining clansmen scattered around the continent seeking protection elsewhere. Only three have returned in all this time."

"Who else besides Kushina and I have returned?" Fū asked, her lips pinched together as she took in the shadows of the collapsed buildings all around them.

"Nagato," Akuma replied and Fū's head whipped back to him, "yeah he dropped by a few years ago with his friends. I didn't let the other two in, but he came so I talked to him. Offered him the summoning contract, just to see what he'd say, and just as I thought once I stated the stipulations he said he 'couldn't bear the burden' like a bitch. Trust a little girl to have bigger balls then a grown man with a rinnegan."

"Please don't ever say that to his face," Fū laughed in spite of herself and rubbed her hands down her face with a groan, feeling some of her anxiety ease marginally, "he doesn't need more summons when he has access to the Animal Path anyway. What's the contract and what are the stipulations?"

"Ha!" Akuma clapped, crouching down right in front of Fū to look her in the eye. "The contract grants you access to my collection; a horde of demon/oni/yokai and you, specifically you – despite who else could potentially hold the contract - can call me whenever and wherever you need to. Some of my horde are harmless little helpers, others not so much. You take your life into your own hands when you summon them. When summoning me the stipulation is that I take life force as payment for my aid. I will always tell you how much I want and wait for consent before jumping in."

"Tai this doesn't seem like a goo–" Itachi began but Fū interrupted, looking at Akuma.

"Do I regenerate life force after it's been taken?"

Now Shisui also tried to interject. "Taifū-san…"

Akuma also ignored the boys. "You do, that's why the Uzumaki have such a vast life force and quick regenerative abilities. Thank Uzumaki Nori for having the foresight to add that into our deal. I'll warn you though, if I bring you down to one HP it takes almost a year to recover from it, and that's if you're a full grown adult. At this age, it would take more than a year for you to recuperate. So a big ask will put you down for a long time." Akuma insisted, and they were both ignoring the wide eyed, worried looks Fū was receiving from the Uchiha boys.

Fū was silent for a few seconds, thinking about it and choosing her next words carefully.

"You're a quarter Ōtsutsuki, the son of the Sage of Six Paths, and you made a deal with a death god for immortality out of an urge to be there for your brothers over their centuries of feud and reincarnation." Fū summarized, looking Akuma in the eyes as she asked; "Can you reverse damage wrought by the Gedō Mazō?"

"Gedō Mazō?" Itachi asked, and Fū figured he was getting ready to do something drastic if she kept ignoring him so she'd have to do this fast.

Akuma smirked at her, knowing exactly where she was going with this.

"I'd take you down to one HP for it but yeah, I could do that."

"Terms accepted after I return to Ame and discuss it with the afflicted. Give me the contract." Fū told him, holding her hand out and Akuma's smirk widened.

"My god damn favorite soul of all time, ever!" Akuma proclaimed loudly, rising to his full height and grinning down at her with a glint in his eyes as a long, unfurled scroll materialized into the air between them. "Fuck I missed you, you beautiful bitch, here you go~ in blood just under the name of your last incarnation—"

"Tai!" Itachi's voice was raised, and his tone sharp. Unlike she'd ever heard from him, she jumped right before puncturing her finger with the tip of her kunai, wide eyed when she glanced over at his pinched disapproving glare while he snatched the knife right out of her hands. "What are you doing?"

"Accepting a dangerous summoning contract with a thousand year old demon-alien-shinigami," she looked over at Akuma questioningly and he just shrugged with a so-so motion of his hand and she continued on nonplussed, "guy."

"You were going to say 'thing' weren't you?" Akuma accused.

Fu just flashed him a grin.

Shisui slapped his arm over his face to smother his laughter and Itachi rounded his glare on him until the older boy got his amused grin under control and swallowed, rubbing the back of his head with a apologetic look so fake that even Fu spotted it when she glanced between the boys.

"And you think that's wise?" Itachi pressed while Fū still held her hands like the kunai was still in them. "After being informed that he will take your life force in exchange for service?"

"I'll recover," Fū shrugged, not seeing the issue as she finally dropped her hands back to her legs. "He said he'd tell me how much I'm spending and wait for consent before he takes it. Seems reasonable to me."

"And the damage from this Gedō Mazō that you're asking for him to restore — he said he'll almost kill you to do this and you're consenting to that?" Itachi was damn near having a full on panic attack as he stabbed her kunai into the dirt beside him. Fū realized this as she took in his incredulous wide-eyed look and the way his chest was heaving like he couldn't get a good breath in.

"Okay," Fū settled, deciding she needed to console him gently before he really did spiral. This was clearly affecting him and she didn't want him to panic. She turned her back to Shisui and faced her friend, holding out her hands for him to take and he did after a second's hesitation.

"Akuma, Shisui, do you mind giving us a minute?"

#

Shisui was not happy about being sent away, but he understood that there were things that had been said before he'd gotten there… and that Itachi had a relationship with Taifū prior to all this that had already been strong.

Now that relationship was likely strengthened ten fold, just from the limited amount of information Shisui had overheard.

But knowing that didn't stop the sinking feeling in his stomach when he realized he was being excluded, though.

He wanted to help, and he'd heard enough to know they were going to need it.

Akuma was a powerful and immortal Ōtsutsuki of that parasitic alien clan Taifū had warned them about just hours ago. Itachi and Taifū were reincarnations, bound to said Ōtsutsuki's will; protect his own brother's reincarnations at all costs. Sasuke. And Taifū's younger brother, Naruto. A dangerous summoning contract that could kill the summoner. Taifū suffering through a harsh life and killing herself before returning to this world as a Senju as well as an Uzumaki – and more… so much more.

To be honest, Shisui was wondering why they'd just let him sit there and hear it all.

Why Akuma had sat there, telling his tale and knowing that he was there listening in. Because he had to have known.

"Once those two get a rock solid foundation and gain some traction together you'll never get between them," Akuma said, materializing on a beam beside Shisui just out of range of Itachi and Taifū.

Shisui glanced over at him with raised brows. He hadn't sensed the Ōtsutsuki's approach, but now that he knew a little more that didn't surprise him at all.

"I don't want to get in between them," he settled on saying.

"Well no. Not, like, to break them apart or anything. But I can see on your face that you want in on that," Akuma gestured vaguely to where Itachi and Taifū were, "and I'm telling you, I can count on one hand the amount of times their souls have let others into their partnership and the only time it ever happens is when they meet a trustworthy person as children. If you want in, best not cuck yourself by staying on the sidelines right now—it's going to be infinitely harder to get them to trust you in the future."

Shisui considered Akuma's words, but Akuma wasn't going to give him any time to really think about it.

"Are you picking up what I'm putting down or am I gonna have to seal your memories so you can't betray them… because I have to protect their interests, since they're mine as well, y'know. If you're not helping, you're hindering."

With a deep frown at the threat, Shisui made the hand signs for his Body Flicker technique.

The last thing he heard from Akuma as he tore off back towards Itachi and Taifū was;

"Well that's enough fucking with the kids for now. Time to go fuck with the teenagers!"

#

As Shisui and Akuma left, the former's reluctance obvious until Itachi's nod of agreement, Fū gently squeezed Itachi's hands between her own.

"Nagato is immobile due to damage wrought by summoning a thing called the Gedō Mazō — it's the empty husk of something called the Ten-Tails; the tailed beasts were split from this and the husk was sealed on the Moon. As a Rinnegan user, Nagato was able to summon it back to the earth for a price. I need Nagato to be mobile and if I have to pay for his health with the majority of my own lifeforce, so long as I am able to recover, then I will gladly do so."

"Who's going to watch over you, help you, while you're recovering?" Itachi insisted, squeezing her hands back, now, and shaking them a bit as if trying to emphasize his point. "Will Uzumaki Nagato respect the sacrifice you're making on his behalf? There's so much that could go wrong—"

"He's family," she interrupted before he could start listing all the ways this could go wrong, "and if he's going so far as to oust himself as an Uzumaki to Konoha right now to protect me and Naruto then I trust him to understand what I'm doing and respect it." Fū explained. Tone gentle but firm. "I know you don't know enough about the Akatsuki to trust them, and some of the members are indeed not trustworthy, but trust me when I say that I will be fine whilst recovering."

So long as Zetsu doesn't show up, anyway. She really needed to get on figuring out how to make that thing a non-issue. Merged with White Zetsu as he was, he actually had Mokuton and that was concerning.

Itachi was still frowning, but his breathing had evened out so Fū counted that as a crisis averted.

"What about the long-term risks of being consigned to a contract with an Ōtsutsuki?"

"It doesn't really sound like I have much choice in that," she lifted the scroll to look at all the names written in darkened, dry blood. Beginning with Uzumaki Nori and ending with Uzumaki Akari, over thirty names stained the scroll. "All previous incarnations signed."

"That doesn't mean you have to, too."

"But I'm going to." Taifu told him, looking him dead in the eyes and making sure he understood her by the serious look on her face. "I'll be responsible with it. I promise."

Itachi was biting the insides of his cheeks, thinking. She could tell by the way his jaw moved. After a long pause, he released a sigh and loosened his hold on her hands.

"I can see I won't change your mind," he said, the disapproval still clear regardless, "have you managed to find a way to make the communications seal permanent?"

He was asking because they were alone for the first time, without eavesdroppers. She was glad for that, no one needed to know about that seal.

"Yeah, I did. I was trying to find a way to improve it but I haven't managed to figure it out yet. That's why I haven't sent a new seal to you yet, but I'll give it to you if you want it right now. I'll just have to make adjustments later."

"I would like it now," Itachi nodded at her, drawing his hands away while he explained himself, "so that we can keep in contact while you're in recovery. I imagine you'll be following through with it once you return to Amegakure…"

"…and we're going to have to keep each other updated on the kids, too." Fū reminded him and he nodded. "We've got a lot to talk about when we can do so without prying ears. You're in this with me as my partner, right? Naruto and Sasuke are our priority over literally anything and everything else?"

Itachi's gaze sharpened, sharingan whirling to life and glowing eerily in the night. "The three of you are my priority."

"Okay," Fu smiled at him, heart swelling at his inclusion of her into his priority list. At times like this, it hurt her to think what the shinobi world had done to this sweet boy in the version of the story she knew. "Show me where you want the seal."

"I'll take one too, please." Shisui appeared beside the both of them, and this time even Itachi startled, narrowing his eyes at his friend who threw his hands up and hastened to explain himself. "I've heard enough to know something big is going on that involves the two of you and your brothers. You and Sasuke are important to me, and I happen to like Taifū in the brief time I've spent around her," this boy had the audacity to turn and wink at her, and she fought to keep the amused smile from her face. "So whatever it is I want in. Let me help."

Itachi looked to Taifu, who looked back at him and sucked her teeth, releasing her hold on him completely, now, to throw her own hands up and lean back.

"Your call — I don't know him like you do. I've told one other person almost everything and I'm going to be telling Nagato some things when I return to Ame because I need him on our side. Far be it from me to stop you from bringing Shisui in," she glanced over at the boy in question, assessing eyes raking over his smiling face before she cut her gaze back to Itachi, "he's a good sort, though. I'd trust him."

"Why do I feel like that was a great compliment coming from you?" Shisui asked, dark eyes shifting questioningly between them.

"Because it is," Itachi told him, making his decision, "because Tai has the knowledge of who we can and cannot trust in this world." Itachi gave Shisui a long stare with his sharingan active. "Do you still mean what you said to me that night, after we first encountered the Foundation ANBU?"

"Of course."

"Then know that to betray Taifū is to betray me as well," Itachi impressed this upon Shisui and Fū felt like there was some kind of Uchiha power play going on when Shisui's sharingan swirled to life, smile dropping as he nodded his solemn acceptance. After a few additional (very tense) seconds of eye contact between the two, Itachi returned his gaze to Fū. "Is there a way to modify the seal so that it has the ability to connect three ways?"

"It's just a matter of a few adjustments, give me a minute to work it out."

"Do you need chakra paper or charged ink?" Itachi asked as Fu just sat there, staring into the distance.

"Ha," Fū grinned, closing her eyes to envision the seal she was going to need to create for this. "Nope. Just give me a sec."