"Are you okay, peanut?" Sasuke knelt in front of his daughter. Her eyes were bleeding, and her Sharingan had changed. Jesus... what all did I miss?

"Papa." She muttered, looking him straight in the eyes with a look that inspired terror into Sasuke's core. "That man hurt Itachi." She pointed over to Pain. Sasuke looked at the orange haired man, who was smirking victoriously. Damn, it's been a bit... I never saw Pain personally, but he's every bit as disturbing as Naruto described him to be. This one is just a body, right? Nagato is manipulating him from a different location. That could make it harder to kill him.

Actually, Sasuke realized, we don't kill him. Naruto does. So right now, our priority should be to run away.

I can't believe Sarada has the cursed eyes... I was working so hard so she wouldn't have them. But I suppose there was nothing I could do to stop her. No clan values love as much as the Uchiha.

Sasuke suddenly looked down, and his arm was back. He hadn't even noticed, but it would take a while to get used to. It felt like his arm was never gone. "What the..." So was Naruto's. The two stared at each other in surprise. "It's the future. They're changing things. Apparently we never had that fight, eh?"

"I guess not." Naruto shrugged cheerfully, flexing his fingers in amusement. "Good thing, too."

"SARADA!" Sakura from the future cried, running over to her child. Hugging her tightly, Sakura pulled back, looking angry at her daughter. "Sarada Uchiha, you scared us! Don't you ever do that again!"

Sarada didn't complain about Sakura's strong grip. Which made Sakura pull back to examine her child. "Sarada? Are you okay?" She asked quietly, her medic voice making an appearance as she checked her daughter over for injuries aside from her new Mangekyo.

"I'm fine, Mama." Her voice was monotone, devoid of the usual emortions she had.

Sasuke knew that tone well. That was the tone of voice he had used when he couldn't feel anything. Just as he had feared, Sarada was turning out like him, but it hadn't happened in the way he had imagined.

"BORUTO!" Naruto saw his son and sprinted over, still wary of the enemies right in front of them, but he was too relieved to care very much.

"DAD!" Boruto shouted back, happy to finally see his dad and mom again. They met in a powerful embrace, with Hinata not far behind.

"BORUTO, I SWEAR TO KAMI I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU GO THROUGH MY OFFICE AGAIN!" Naruto scowled, pulling back temporarily to yell at his kid.

Boruto chuckled sheepishly. "I, uh, I missed you too, tou-san."

The Akatsuki watched the heartwarming scene with passive looks on their faces. Their orders hadn't changed- the fact that there were more people now didn't change that, even though said people appeared to be familiar looking. That was even more interesting, actually.

Younger Sasuke looked at his older self in contained awe. Is that me? I look old. He looked at Sakura and a small smile appeared on his face. She looks happy.

"This is touching and everything," Deidra called, "But don't we have to fight?"

Older Sasuke sighed and took a handkerchief out of his pocket. "Sarada, come here." Sarada obliged, blinking up at her father as if she had just noticed him. He wiped the blood from her eyes and kissed her forhead. "Hey," He whispered to her. "I missed you."

Bloody tears (No pun intended ) ran down Sarada's cheeks. "I missed you too, Dad."

"These eyes don't change you." Sasuke whispered, gently shaking his head and pressing his fingers to his daughter's temples. "You're still you. Don't let them change you."

Sarada blinked, and the red tears stopped falling. "I'm scared, Dad."

"It's okay." Sasuke nodded. "That's fine. You'll be fine, peanut. I'll make sure they go away." Older Sasuke stood up and turned around slowly. "Naruto."

Said Jinchuriki raised his head from his son and looked at his best friend. Catching the idea, he scanned the enemies. Sasuke would be developing a plan to get them away from the Akatsuki, so Naruto was in charge of distracting them while Sasuke thought. "Whoa, it's been a long time since we've seen you guys. How's it been? Pain? Is that a new haircut? New body, maybe?"

Younger Naruto snorted, trying really hard not to burst into laughter. Pain didn't grace that childish dig with a response, instead getting ready to fight. Somewhere far away, Nagato was gathering his strength.

Older Naruto snapped his fingers. "Konan, how is your paper machê going? I heard it was your favorite hobby."

Younger Naruto had to cover his mouth. Kakashi had to cover a snicker as well, while Younger Sasuke just stared in awe at older Naruto's sheer nerve.

"I love your nail polish, Deidara. It really goes with your eyes. Where'd you get it? I was planning on getting you a new type of pink nail polish for Christmas, but I didn't know which would be your color. I kinda wanted it to match your hand-tongues though. And, well, you're dead."

Deidara blushed slightly, before blowing up and giving Naruto his first valid response. "I don't wear pink nail polish."

Kakashi snickered and Younger Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore. Deidara's face was priceless. Shisui had to use every ounce of self control he had left to keep from rolling on the floor.

"HAH. Tell that to your Hand-mouth-things." Older Naruto grinned. Older Hinata giggled a little. "They don't know how to keep secrets. And Kisame, did you dye your hair? It looks like a darker blue. Speaking of dye, did you, like, accidentally dump the whole box of it on yourself?"

Younger Naruto was down. Kakashi was holding his stomach, and Sasuke was chuckling. Kakashi almost lost it. Younger Sakura couldn't help but laugh at that one, and Shisui gave up and joined Naruto on the floor.

Older Naruto grinned smugly as O. Sakura put on her gloves. She had an angry-to-the-point-of-killing expression on her face, meaning that she wasn't about to go easy on anyone. Older Sasuke was still taking care of Sarada as best he could. He spotted Itachi in a corner, and knew what happened as soon as he saw Shisui. "Sarada, I need to you go help Itachi-jii, okay? And Boruto is going to need you to keep him from coming out into battle. Can you do that?"

Sasuke knew his daughter felt the the most at peace when she felt useful, so it would probably help out the situation if she was being useful. Sarada nodded and scurried over to her uncle, recalling what had happened earlier. She needed to talk to her mom about a cure for her uncle's illness later.

Older Sasuke looked at everyone else for the first time. "Okay," he said, voice raised a little above a whisper so the people on the other side of the valley couldn't hear them. It was interesting that the Akatsuki hadn't chosen to attack them- it appeared that Pain was studying them and trying to find out who everyone was. "things could get a little messy. If you're not Kakashi-sensei, go over to Itachi. Sorry, Shisui, you have to go to. You're just 24."

Shisui and Naruto protested, but obeyed. Hinata's younger self, who had joined when she heard the plan start, led Naruto by the arm over to Itachi to keep him from charging the orange haired man head on.

Kakashi came over to his three older students, hands stuck in his pockets. "Yo."

Naruto grinned at his younger sensei. This was the first and only time that they had the authority to boss Kakashi-sensei around, and damn if Naruto wasn't going to use that to the fullest. "Hey. Wanna help us?"

Kakashi smirked, but shook his head. "I actually want to see how you guys work together as grown ups. Plus, I feel like Sarada needs taken care of."

Sakura sighed in relief. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"I promise we're a lot better at teamwork than we were when we took the bell test." Naruto grinned proudly. "Believe it!"

"Okay, then. Impress me." Kakashi went over to Sarada and sat on a branch hovering over her head, keeping an eye on his students' daughter and watching the show simultaneously.

Sasuke looked at his teammates and best friends. "I was needing exercise anyway."

"Me too." Sakura cracked her knuckles, an evil look appearing on her face. "You heard Sensei. Let's begin."

Then she punched the ground.

It crumpled to bits under her touch, causing the Akatsuki, who weren't expecting that, to loose their balance. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto stood back to back in the only circle of stability that was left, each taking on enemies from each side.

Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo whirred to life, and with the Rinnegan was almost unbeatable. He faced off Kisame and Deidara, who had decided they had both scores to settle with the Uchiha. Somehow Sasuke had ended up with the most irritating opponents.

Sakura growled a battle cry, and began pummeling Tobi with no mercy. "Take that, Mada-bastard. That'll teach you to try and take over the world."

"ITAI~ I WAS A GOOD BOY. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Tobi groaned, taking a punch to the stomach like a trooper, although in so much pain he could barely talk straight.

"Good boys don't start world wars." Sakura scolded the man, excecuting a perfect, swift uppercut to the jaw with her massive strength and Tobi was out of the game.

Younger Sasuke gaped at his older teammate. Weak Sakura was gone, replaced by this beast of a woman. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he got on her bad side.

Older Hinata was taking on Konan, which was pretty darn awesome, because she took the blue haired woman out almost immediately, getting through her paper body and knocking her out effectively. She joined Naruto in attacking Pain, because she felt like she had a score to settle with him, too. The many different bodies Pain controlled were a mess to deal with, so Naruto had summoned clones to help him, and with Hinata, that was a lot less to deal with.

Pain was after Naruto, but when Sasuke heard a shout of, "DOTON: DORYŪHEKI!" (Earth Release, Earth style wall) He quickly used a fire jutsu to get Deidara off him. The explosions incapacitated Deidara, who had been making an explosive bird. It blew him up a little. In a not pretty way. Deidara went flying through the trees.

Kisame was a lot harder to deal with, his sword Samehada was a bit of a setback, but Sasuke managed to expertly get him away from Samehada, making him fair game.

"SUITON: BAKUSUI SHOHA!" (Water Release, Exploding Water Colliding Wave) No time. He had to help Naruto out.

Shoving his sword deep into Kisame's stomach, he stood up and went over to Naruto, who was surrounded by the glowing chakra of the Nine Tails, beating against the wall and breaking it down. They were trying to drown him, Sasuke realized, using the water jutsu.

Summoning a Susano'o, Sasuke helped Naruto crush the wall and the water broke free, soaking everything.

"KATON: KASUMI ENBU NO JUTSU!" Sasuke called. The Fire Release: Mist Blaze Dance technique. That would keep them busy. He slung an arm around his coughing friend, heaving him to his feet. "What's up? You getting old or something?"

"Oh, I'm just saving the best for last." Naruto grinned, letting go of Sasuke and making the correct handsigns. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Two more Naruto's appeared out of nowhere and both started making Rasengan. "RASENSHURIKEN!" Naruto shouted, and Pein was pushed far, far away. If not dead, pretty darn injured. "There. Now my past self can still help him."

Sakura ran over to the two of them and began checking them for injuries. They had none.

Everyone else was thoroughly impressed. They had successfully defeated the Akatsuki in under 20 minutes. Younger Sasuke and Naruto fistbumped, though Sasuke did so unwillingly. "We're awesome." Naruto declared.

Older Hinata smiled at younger Naruto, making him grin back. "Glad you're having fun, dear."

Sakura lightly kissed Sasuke's cheek, marveling at his arm's regeneration. Together, the four of them turned to the kids and their younger selves only to find their children frantic because someone was missing.

"SHOOT, HOW DID YOU LOSE ITACHI-JII, SARADA?!" Boruto exclaimed, pouting.

"HOW DID I LOSE HIM?! I TOLD YOU TO WATCH HIM!"

"Nicely done, Otouto." Itachi said, appearing behind Older Sasuke, examining future Sasuke and appraising his skills. "You got much stronger."

"Nii-san." Sasuke's voice shook slightly at the sight of his long dead elder brother. "Sarada and Boruto saved you, huh?"

"I'm still..." He trailed off, coughing, then got back to the subject. "I'm still dying, just in a subtle way."

Older Sakura examined the elder Uchiha skeptically. She lay a hand on his chest and sent green chakra into him for an examination. Her eyes widened. "Hemoptysis. You really are sick."

"Hemoptysis?" Itachi frowned. "Huh. No wonder."

"Any way to treat it?" Sarada came over to her mom and asked seriously. Everyone else joined.

"In layman's terms," the Uchiha Matriarch teased, "I can collapse the lung that is bleeding... that would take a surgery... I would need to go to Konoha, and I don't even know if they have the technology to do that."

Older Sasuke got the same determined and almost hopeful look Itachi had on. "Why not bring him to the future?"

Everyone looked at him in surprise. They hadn't even considered the consequences of that before.

"Can we even do that?" Younger Naruto asked.

"No, I think we shouldn't take Itachi through..." Sakura shook her head. "Maybe bring the equipment back here?"

"We'll discuss this over tea." Shisui slung an arm around Itachi's shoulder. "And I don't know about you guys, but I'm fucking starving." Shisui smiled, leading his friend home. "We can go back to my place."

"Hate to break it to you, bud, but we've been squatting there for like, a day now." Kakashi informed the younger man.

"Anyone who is lost is welcome to my home." Shisui decided sagely.

"Listen to Shisui. He is wise." Kakashi teased. "And I could really go for some sake right about now."

"Not the time, sensei." Older Naruto nodded. "But let's go."

《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》

The living room at Shisui's just managed to get more crowded. As older Sakura walked in with the tea, everyone was squished together in the couches, talking. She poured some for everyone else, and looked around.

Seeing no room, and being too lazy to get a chair for herself, Sakura sat on her husband Sasuke's lap and sipped her tea.

Younger Sasuke blinked in surprise when Sakura did so, but didn't complain, because he did not need a black eye from his older self. She was his wife, so what did it matter that his elder self showed affection to her?

"So," older Sakura's bright green eyes looked back at him cheerily. "How's your life going?"

Sasuke didn't quite know what to say to the beautiful woman sitting in his future self's lap so nonchalantly. "Well, it's confusing now."

"Are you upset you didn't get your revenge?" Sakura asked, sighing.

"No, not anymore." Sasuke frowned and shook his head. "Itachi wasn't who I thought he was."

"See?" Sakura giggled. "You should listen to me more often. SASUKE-KUN!" She said to her husband, who was seated next to Itachi and conversing with Shisui and Naruto. He looked down at his wife as she said that. "Little Sasuke isn't regretting not getting his revenge!!!"

"I know, Sakura," Sasuke smiled a little at the sight of his younger self blushing at Sakura.

Sakura noticed what he was smiling at, and looked back at the blushing 16 year old. "Oh, sorry, Sasuke-kun, am I making you uncomfortable?" She teased, wriggling her fingers into her husband's hair.

Younger Sasuke blushed more. Younger Sakura noticed and started laughing at Sasuke's uncomfortable reaction to older Sakura's affection towards his older self. Older Sasuke just rolled his eyes at Sakura's teasing and went back to his conversation.

"I love how I can do this and you can't do anything about it." Older Sakura laughed, ruffling her husband's hair. "I'd forgotten how cute you were. No wonder my younger self likes you so much."

Younger Sakura stopped laughing.

Help me! Sasuke mouthed to her. She won't stop ribbing me.

Nope! Was her reply.

"SO." Sarada cleared her throat. "Mom, what's the deal with Itachi-jii? When can we go home?"

Boruto nodded enthusiastically.

"When we get your uncle into a good position. We might need to go forward in time to get Shishou to help me with this operation." Sakura sat forward, seriousness entering her demeanor. She looked at Itachi, then back at her husband, the two of them silently weighing their options. She gently touched her husband's Rinnegan eye, sending green chakra into it to check for damage.

Older Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, when she healed a little bit of his damaged nerves. Then Older Sakura looked back at younger Sasuke and winked to show that the teasing wasn't over yet.

Crap.