Uchiha Shisui had never been a giant fan of kids. The only one he specifically liked, had been Sasuke. And to Shisui's endless disorientation, Sasuke was all grown up now, and he had a daughter. Shisui was still a little freaked out by that. Little Sasuke-chan? He was all grown up now. And that was weird for Shisui.

"Sarada-chan really took after you, eh?" Shisui asked his old comrade. Itachi had always been like a little brother to him, and he couldn't help but care about his family.

"I hope so. She's probably more like Sakura and Sasuke than me." Itachi replied, leading the way down the hallway. They were on the way to his niece's cell. And now, apparently, everyone else had ended up there too. Shisui heard the Kyuubi jinchuriki was friends with Sasuke-san. Along with the med-nin trained by Tsunade-sama herself.

Surrounding yourself with talented people, eh, Sasuke? These must be your friends.

"I think she ended up a lot like you, actually." Shisui observed. "The way she carries herself... she gets her pride from her father, but the intelligence in the way she acts... that's definitely similar to how you act."

Itachi smiled a little. "Huh. I'd thought that was a Sakura thing."

"Well, she is a lot like you." Shisui said. "She has an intelligent, almost... queenly air to her that commands respect, like you. She also looks a little like you. And she has your depressingness too."

Itachi chuckled. "I'm not depressing."

"Sure." Shisui shook his head. He had really missed his little brother figure. Itachi had been his best friend for a long while, before Shisui had supposedly killed himself at age 16. Itachi had only been 13. Shisui winced at how Itachi must've felt. "Gomenasai, Itachi."

Itachi looked at Shisui. "It's.... it's okay. I'm fine."

They got to Sarada's cell door and heard voices arguing inside.

"You don't have to lie and say you're okay. I'm still your best friend. You can tell me anything." Itachi sensed genuineness in Shisui's voice.

"I'm really okay, Shisui. Let's go." Itachi dismissed the idea of talking to him right then. In all truth, he just wanted to talk to Shisui for hours, explaining what happened with the massacre, why he joined the Akatsuki, everything.

But they didn't have time for that.

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"I am so BORED," Boruto complained, banging his head on the wall. "Why am I so bored?"

"Because you're stuck in a cell with a bunch of Temes and no ramen." Naruto sighed heavily. "I know because I'm in the same boat."

"Can you go without ramen for 3 seconds????" Sarada groaned.

"The longest I've went was 5 minutes." Naruto shrugged. "I've never tried to go without ramen."

"Like that's a good thing?!" Sarada massaged her temples. "Mama, how do you deal with Boruto and Uncle Naruto without killing them?"

"I normally don't deal." Sakura raised her head temporarily from the wall where she was staring helplessly at the ceiling. "Just punch him. That helps."

"HAI!" Sarada nodded, smacking Boruto over the head. "SHANNAROOO!"

"My, you're so loud, Sarada-chan."

Shisui Uchiha opened the door, and walked in with Itachi on his heels.

"Hi, Itachi-jii. Where have you been?" Sarada asked, smiling up at her uncle. She ignored Shisui, and dragged Boruto over to give him a hug.

Itachi knelt and accepted the embraces, exhaling. He'd thought Sarada would hate him for not coming. He guessed she was like Sakura in that way, as the pink haired kunoichi didn't seem to hate easily. That's a good habit to have. Itachi wished he thought like that. Boruto grinned at him, and he ruffled Boruto's hair, amused.

Shisui pouted childishly at Itachi, then gestured to the kids. "Right, how rude of me. Sarada, Boruto, those who don't know, this is Shisui, my long-time best friend."

Sarada looked up at Shisui with a cryptic expression on her face. Shisui couldn't see through her, like he used to be able to with Sasuke. Yet another thing she'd gotten from him, since Sakura's emotions were always out in the open. "Yeah, I know him."

Shisui winced. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Sarada rubbed some of her scratches. "It's okay, I know it wasn't you."

"Shisui, ne?" Sakura stood and extended a hand, smiling. "I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you."

"WHOOA," Shisui's eyes widened. "Is this Sasuke's girlfriend? Hi! You know, if you ever get tired of Mr. GROUCHY OVER THERE," He remarked, staring not-so-subtly at Sasuke, who was in a corner alone. "Hit me up."

Sakura blushed, but got a defiant look on her face. "Sorry, but you might have to wait a little while." Sasuke scoffed arrogantly.

"HEY THERE, OTOUTO! COME TALK TO ME!" Shisui yelled, making, 'come here' gestures.

Sasuke groaned and stood up, walking over there. "Tell me why after everything that's happened I am not even surprised that you're alive." He told Shisui blandly, dropping himself on the ground next to Sarada, who was watching this whole exchange amusedly.

"Ahhh, same old Sasuke." Shisui leaned down and ruffled his duckbutt hair. Sasuke slapped his hand away. "Missed you too, kid. But I can imagine. Believe me, buddy, I didn't expect to be alive either."

"You know he's kidding, right Sakura?" Itachi chuckled at Sakura's blushing face. He didn't want her to be awkward around them now that Shisui had thoroughly embarrassed her.

"I'M NOT!" Shisui, who had remarkable listening skills, yelled over.

Kakashi, who had finally joined the conversation, rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll find him someone else. Maybe Shizune-san or something."

Boruto bursted into laughter. "That would be really funny."

Shisui knew objectively who Shizune Kato was, and did simp for her considering she was super successful and pretty, but he knew that they were years apart so that would never ever happen.

Kakashi's greeting had been an insult, which had been common even back when Kakashi was a soulless ANBU member. The white haired captain couldn't allow his subordinates to get cheeky, after all.

"Kakashi-taichou." Shisui extended a hand and Kakashi took it. "Good to see that you got old and fat after I kicked the can." He joked, getting the man back for the Shizune joke.

"Sucks that you didn't get old and fat." Kakashi returned.

"Ouch, low blow, old dude." Shisui sighed dramatically, pretending to be hurt. "Have you been the one taking care of Sasuke? He's looking good."

By 'good', of course, Sasuke looked like a dumpster fire, because he hadn't slept in days and was completely disheveled after being arrested by Itachi. Not to mention the ground-leveling duel to the death he'd just had with Itachi days ago. In this context, Shisui used Sasuke's overall dumpster-fire appearance as a metaphor for what happened when Kakashi was in charge of people.

Naruto snorted, causing everyone's attention to go to him. "Yeah, Kakashi had him for about.... meh, 6 months? A year?"

"And this is the Kyuubi jinchuriki?" Shisui chuckled good naturedly. The two were very similar in manner, so Naruto could tell that Shisui meant no offense by bringing up his Bijuu, which Naruto appreciated. Everyone had judged him for the Fox since he was born. He had always been hated. It was nice to know that not everyone had shared that opinion.

"Unfortunately, he's worse than he looks." Sasuke put in. A chance to insult his best friend, heck yeah he was taking it.

"OI, SHUT UP, TEME!!!!"

Shisui smiled. Sasuke has friends. How nice. "So how have the last years been?" He asked his baby cousin curiously.

Sasuke huffed. "Horrible."

Itachi shot him a look. "You're not still planning on killing me, are you? Because I'll be fine with dying."

"OH no." Sarada narrowed her eyes. "If Sasuke tries anything, I swear I will come back in time and kick his arse to the moon."

"Speaking of time, we have to get the kids home. Any ideas, Shisui of the Body Flicker?" Itachi asked Shisui.

"How did they get here?" Shisui asked,  frowning thoughtfully. Sometimes it was forgotten that Shisui was silly sometimes, but he was also a genius of incredible proportions.

"Magic scroll." Kakashi explained, crossing his arms. "I've never heard of it, so it must be something someone in the future invented, unless you have?" He left it open ended so Shisui could put in a reply.

Shisui rubbed his head. "I think it would be a good idea to wait for their parents to come get them. If the kids try to time travel alone again, they could go back further in time or create some kind of disaster with the timelines. As much as possible, it is a idea to allow the older people to handle this. There is also a chance that the scroll stayed there instead of coming here, and they could use it to come for the kids. But if we have no choice, Tsunade-sama --she's Hokage now, right?-- has one of these scrolls, they could get back before Older Everyone even finds out they're missing."

Itachi sighed quietly. "That would require a trip to Konoha. Where Sasuke and I are prohibited from going."

Sarada frowned. "No, my father will most likely realize we're missing before we leave here. He's always been too observant, and it's my birthday back home. They'll want me for the cake or something. Of course, that's assuming that time is passing at the same rate there. It could be years here and hours there before my parents realize I'm gone, so I don't know how long we should delay doing our homework on how to get out of here. We should operate assuming that they know we're missing, for now, though."

"But," Boruto put in rather proudly, "her dad has the Rinnegan, so coming to get us should be no biggie!"

Everyone froze and looked at the two kids, then at younger Sasuke.

"IDIOT!" Sarada smacked her time traveling comrade in irritation. "That was one of the things we agreed to keep secret for everyone's safety!"

Itachi chuckled. "Looks like you need to wipe our memories later, Sasuke. I guess you did get my eyes after all. And progressed beyond them. I'm proud of your future self."

Sasuke was completely stunned. He knew very, very few people who had the Rinnegan, and he was aware of the fact that some of them were almost gods. "I--What?"

Sarada sighed. "Boruto, when we get home, I will kill you. Nothing, Sasuke, just forget about that small, insignificant piece of information."

"Sarada is right." Kakashi nodded.  "We need to get out of here, and then we'll plan what we do next."

As if those words were triggers, Shisui's head immediately began pounding. "Shì--- shoot." He amended, noting the kids in the room. "You guys need to get out of here. In about a minute, Leader-sama is going to take control of my body and use me to take you out. The door is cracked open, and there are weapons lying on the table in the watch room. Okay? Itachi, you lead them ou---- AUUGGHH." Shisui doubled over.

"Shisui-jii!" Sarada called, coming over to him with green chakra enveloping her hands. She was no good at medical ninjutsu, didn't know what was wrong with her father's cousin, but wanted to help.

He grabbed her wrists, wincing in pain. "...run." He told her, shoving her away.

He had to force himself to let go, to not let Pein's control force him to hurt the girl from the future again.

His Sharingan pulsed open without his consent, and he knew he was completely out of time with them. "Sorry. you need to go, please...."

"We can't leave you, dattebayo!" Naruto protested, blue eyes wide with nervousness.

Kakashi looked Shisui in the eyes. A silent message was passed between the two of them. "Let's go, Naruto." The eldest ninja said, gently pushing his student towards the door. Shisui was about to give his life for them to be safe for a little while longer, and Kakashi would be damned if he allowed that sacrifice to be wasted for the second time.

Itachi saw that look, and his idea resurfaced. If Sasuke.... he won't need it anymore, then. "Naruto." The Kyuubi holder looked at him in despair.

Itachi activated his Mangekyo, and Naruto doubled over, coughing. He began puking out--- is that a crow?

"Is that a--" Boruto gagged, but was interrupted by his uncle.

"Naruto had a crow in his stomach??" Sakura asked bluntly, green eyes wide in astonishment. If they had the time, Sakura would wonder how that was physically possible, but they didn't.

The crow came out and flew up, trapping Shisui and Itachi in a Genjutsu.

"No way." Shisui looked around. "Is this--"

"Your eye." Itachi affirmed, nodding. He was floating, surrounded by crows. Suspended in space. He looked peaceful. "I was originally going to use this for Sasuke. It was supposed to reappear when it came in contact with my eyes, making him want to protect the village. I never thought I'd be using it on Shisui some day. At least it didn't go to waste. Sasuke would've killed me,  but I don't think he's too much of a threat anymore. It's programmed to help the village, but before I started the jutsu, I changed it so it would make you protect everyone else, too. This is going to take a lot out of me, so I might not be as strong as I was before. Tell Sakura to heal me, and I'll be fine for a little while longer."

"Itachi...." Shisui gaped at his friend, "you're sick."

"I am." Itachi nodded in solemn affirmation. "I'm not quite sure how much time I have left, so if I don't make it you and Kakashi may have to take the reins for a while. Prioritize getting Boruto and Sarada home, because they could mess a lot of things up otherwise."

"You can't keep exhausting yourself like this, Itachi. You have a family." Shisui scolded.

"Yes, Kaa-san." Itachi joked quickly, before his face became unreadable. "Now be free, Shisui."

The Genjutsu was broken, and Itachi crumpled to the floor. Shisui wiggled his fingers, then his hands, then looked around. "I'm free." He spotted his good friend on the floor, and walked over to him, feeling for a pulse.

Sarada ran to her uncle, a worried look on her face. "Itachi-jii!" Sakura sped over as well, an assessing stare on her face.

Itachi smiled up at her, eyes and mouth bleeding. "Don't worry, Sarada. I'll be fine." Then his eyes fluttered closed. Sakura could feel Itachi wasn't in good shape, so she sent medical chakra into his head just so his eyes wouldn't bother him while he sleeped.

"Thank you, Itachi-san." She whispered. "You just saved us again."

Itachi was heaved onto Shisui's shoulders piggy-back style. Like when they were kids, he noted, trying not to feel upset about the fact that he had just returned to find out his best friend was dying again.

"Okay, we have to go." Kakashi said, running out of the room, followed by everyone else. Hinata used her Byakugan to navigate them through the building, as Itachi was the only one who knew his way around it fully and was knocked out. They stopped in the weapons room and restocked, but there was no one patrolling the halls. Kakashi and Shisui exchanged grim looks, knowing that this meant that the Akatsuki knew exactly what they were doing.

"We may not be able to get out of a direct fight." Kakashi told Shisui, wincing. "As much faith as I have in my students, they aren't ready to face multiple Akatsuki members together. Not even Sasuke."

"You and I might have more luck, but if we're worrying about the kids..." Shisui nodded in agreement, ignoring Naruto and Sakura's protests. "Alright, we should just fight to run." All three of Kakashi's students were outraged by this, but they understood the reasoning.

As they had expected, the minute they got outside, the Akatsuki had surrounded them.

"I see you've broken Shisui from my control, Uchiha Itachi." Pain had joined his troops in this fight, for some reason. Maybe he had been rested up after his fight with Jiraiya and was ready to deal with them again. "It really is too bad you had to use up so much chakra. I would've enjoyed fighting you."

Itachi remained asleep, making Shisui a little angry. The elder Uchiha pulled a kunai from his pouch, shifting so he didn't hurt his friend.

"It's no use, Shisui. It was a nice try, but it's too late now. Since I lost you, I've taken another pawn." His eyes settled on Sarada, and an evil smile rested on his face. "I can sense her Sharingan. She would be an excellent addition to our organization, am I right?"

Sarada looked at her nearly-dead uncle and was filled with an almost uncontrollable rage.

Sarada's Sharingan fought its way out of its dormant position, and from the telltale burning and itching of her eyes, they had upgraded. Sarada had felt this uncomfortable when she had finally acquired three tomoe. But this time... it felt different. More powerful. She liked the power running through her in a different, more demented way.

"Sarada!" Her younger mother gaped in shock.

"What is it? What's wrong with her?" Boruto asked, confused at why things had suddenly changed.

"Sarada," Sasuke looked at the younger kid in surprise and apprehension. "Sarada just got her Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Yes." A flash appeared in front of the group, and a kunai surrounded by purple chakra was flung at Pein.

A strange man drew his kusanagi and grinned. "My day just got a whole hell of a lot better."

His two companions stood defensively in front of their younger selves and children, while the other man came back to Sarada.

"Are you okay, peanut?"