All characters are or are based on characters owned and created by Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing.

Warning: a bloody death at the end of the chapter, hopefully not too gruesome.

"Have you located Danzo yet?" Sasuke glared down at Karin as she lay stunned on the ground, where he tossed her. His Susanoo had manifested itself and completely destroyed the cavern, in which two of the kage, A the Raikage and Gaara the Kazikage, took their stand against him. The large hall caved in on itself, trapping almost everyone, including Jugo and Suigetsu. Only he and Karin had made it out. This was his chance to slip away and find Danzo. It was time to make the man nicknamed the shinobi of darkness, pay.

"But what abut Jugo and Suigetsu? I can still feel their chakra in there. We could save them." Karin protested. She sat up and looked expectantly towards the rubble that now lay beyond the entry way. This was a first, but she did not want to be alone with Sasuke. She had often felt a bit on edge around him, but she had never actually feared him before. However, since he manifested that large chakra entity, which appeared to be an extension of his will, he felt different... almost ominous to her. She shivered against the ice cold chill that wafted off the Uchiha as he approached her.

"Forget them. Do what I ask and take me to Danzo." Sasuke walked past Karin not bothering to help her up. When she did not move quickly enough, he turned and looked at her angrily. His black eyes were cold as ice. "Now!"

"We can't say anything to anyone about what Madara said about Itachi. Especially not about the elders of the hidden leaf manipulating him into killing his own clan." Kakashi warned Naruto, Hinata, and Yamato. "We must keep this secret among the four of us. Who knows? He could be lying to provoke us into taking certain action. The hidden leaf is already very unstable after Pain's assault. Until we can be sure he is telling the truth, we cannot risk spreading his lies."

Madara had disappeared as suddenly as he appeared with his odd transportation jutsu. Kakashi looked over at the spot where the masked man once stood restrained by Yamato's wood. He had been working on theory for a few weeks now. And if his theory proved correct, he might find the one person, who could confirm or refute Madara's story about Itachi. The one person, who would be able to turn Sasuke back from his current path of destruction. That was if this person was actually still alive. "For now we need to be patient and wait. Use what's left of the night to get some sleep."

"We don't have time for this!" Naruto growled balling up his fists angrily. "If Sasuke is attacking the five kage summit…"

He was distracted by the three forms that appeared from the nearby woods. It was Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. They slid through the snow towards the leaf ninja at full speed.

"What happened here?" Kankuro inspected the huge hole in the side of the inn.

"Madara Uchiha paid us a visit," Kakashi explained as though that was an adequate enough answer. He paused and said, hesitantly. "He said Sasuke attacked the five kage summit. Is that true?"

Gaara nodded gravely. "Yes. We, Kage, stood against him, but he managed to get away. He appears to have been looking for Danzo... to kill him."

"Well what are you doing here? Where is he now?!" Naruto yelled, his breaths were coming short, uneven, and ragged now.

"We should start from the beginning." Temari answered in a surprisingly patient manner. "The Kage agreed to an allied shinobi force of the five nations. It was decided that General Mifune would be the one to choose who led the force. He chose Danzo."

"Wha? Really?" All the leaf ninja said in unison.

"Yea. But that did not last long." Temari replied. "Ao, a shinobi from the hidden mist, apparently has a stolen byakugan. During the meeting, he caught Danzo using a hidden sharingan that he supposedly stole from Shisui Uchiha. It was discovered that he had put General Mifune under a genjutsu that manipulated his thoughts, manipulating him into choosing Danzo to lead the allied forces. Anyway... while everyone was sorting out what happened with Danzo, this strange creature who calls himself, Zetsu, appeared in the middle of the conference room and told us that Sasuke Uchiha was hiding close by and preparing to attack. The Raikage killed the Zetsu and then went after Sasuke. The three of us followed too. We all fought Sasuke and almost incapacitated him, but he caused the cavern to cave in and slipped away to find Danzo. He was met by the Mizakage and the Tsuchikage and their subordinates. Danzo and his subordinates got away in the chaos of that fight. Again, the kages almost defeated Sasuke, but this time, he was saved by Madara Uchiha."

"I'll ask again! Where is he now?" Naruto demanded.

"We don't know. Madara took him. But before he left, Madara demanded that we hand over the eight tailed and the nine tailed beasts."

Kakashi frowned. "But we thought the eight tails was already captured... by Sasuke."

"Apparently, he got away from Taka and decided to take a vacation instead of returning to his village." Kankuro stated, annoyed.

"After the four remaining kage refused to hand the two remaining jinchuuriki over, Madara declared war on us. He said he will use the seven tailed beasts that he has already collected to defeat our allied forces and take the kumo jinchuuriki and Naruto." Temari stated. "He plans to recreate the Sage of the Sixth Path's ten tailed beast and become it's jinchuuriki in order to unit the entire world under some sort of powerful genjutsu. He calls it the infinite tsukuyomi."

The four konoha shinobi looked at each other silently.

"I can't believe the summit got so chaotic." Yamato eventually said, sighing and crossing his arms over his chest. "But I guess with the amount of suspicion on Danzo... we'll need another hokage."

He looked over at Kakashi. Guessing Yamato's thoughts, Kakashi sighed. "I'm really not eager to become hokage... it's not really my thing. And even so, I would still need to go back to the hidden leaf village and discuss this with jonin council."

"Did you hear what we just said?!" Temari demanded, frustrated with Kakashi's laxidasical and indecisive manner. "Madara just declared war on all of us. We don't have all the time in the world here!"

"It won't take long to get everyone on board with this." Yamato replied. "Kakashi was already the Fire Dayemo's second choice, and most of the jonin would have rather him than Danzo anyway. But let's just proceed like you have already been confirmed, Kakashi. That way we are prepared just in case Madara and the Akatsuki decide to strike before the confirmation can be completed."

Kakashi sighed again. His shoulders sagged a bit. Even though he never trusted the man, a part of him could not help but be relieved after Danzo was given the temporary position as sixth hokage. Now all of sudden, the burden had cycled back to him. He looked at Yamato ruefully. "I guess, I can't argue with that. Thanks a lot, Tenzo."

Yamato narrowed his eyes.

"And what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly.

"What about the Sasuke?" Kankuno growled, still annoyed.

Gaara raised his hand for Kankuno to stop. "Naruto. The allied forces have agreed to protect the eight tails and the nine tails at all costs. As the Kazikage, I have also made that pledge. That means... if Sasuke, as a member of the Akatsuki attacks you or stands against our allied shinobi forces, I will not show him mercy."

Gaara moved closer to his friend. "I spoke to Sasuke today during the attack. Because I too have been touched by the darkness and lost my way."

His voice was grave. "I wanted to see what you saw in me back then. But... I'm afraid... I saw nothing. Sasuke has been completely consumed by the darkness. There is nothing salvageable left within him."

Gaara placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "If you are going to be hokage one day, you are going to have take on the burden of doing what is necessary. Right now... you are going to have to do what is necessary as Sasuke's friend."

"How can I ever call myself, hokage, if I can't even save a friend?" Naruto glared into Gaara's eyes. He was so angry that he did not know what to think or how to react anymore. His path had been clear for so long. He would bring Sasuke back to his home and his friends. Now all of a sudden the path had dead ended and everyone was so determined to tell him that there was no way through. He looked over at Hinata. She was staring back at him expectantly, but there still was not a single ounce of doubt in her eyes. Naruto knocked the Kazikage's hand off his shoulder and backed away, ignoring his words.

"Naruto..." Gaara started.

"Let it be, Gaara." Temari cut into the tension between the two young men. "We've said everything that we came to say. Kakashi, the sand will proceed as if you have been confirmed as hokage. We're going to go back home to our village to prepare. Let's go Gaara, Kankuno."

The three disappeared, back into the snow and the woods. Kakashi patted Naruto's shoulder. "Come on let's get that sleep. You can think on what to do about Sasuke in the morning, huh?"

"Yea. Sure. Sleep." Naruto grumbled. Sleep was the last thing on his mind. He looked back at his destroyed room. "Where am I supposed to do that, anyway?"

"You can sleep with Yamato." Carelessly Kakashi shoved a thumb at the other man as he made his way to his own sleeping quarters. "Hokage's prerogative."

"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Yamato rolled his eyes and began to head back to his sleeping area as well. He looked over at Hinata. "Can you make sure he actually gets to sleep?"

"Yes." Hinata nodded as she quietly moved close to Naruto, pulling him into a hug and resting her head against his chest. He did not resist her embrace, but through the binding seal she could feel his mind pulling away from her and deeper into himself.

"Naruto, you have to sleep." Hinata said, after awhile. She took hold of his hand and pulled him in the direction of Yamato's room. Walking him inside, she knelt down next to him as he lay on the empty mat, still holding her right hand. She rested her free hand on his cheek. It was still warm and flushed from the anger and confusion that churned inside of him. "Tomorrow your mind will be clearer and everything will seem less cloudy and confusing. I know it."

"Yea… sure. Tomorrow." Naruto closed his eyes, but squeezed Hinata's hand tighter as though to make sure she did not leave. She leaned over and softly kissed his cheek. In response, he mumbled, "don't leave yet…"

Hinata stayed there by Naruto until she heard his breaths even out. Then she looked over her shoulder towards the dark hallway and her own room. She could have sworn someone was watching them.

Confident he was finally asleep, Hinata slipped her hand from Naruto's hand and reentered the hall. She looked up and down the passage way but saw no one. Deciding her mind was just playing tricks but she should be cautious anyway, she activated her byakugan to scan the inn. She made out several forms but all were sleeping and none looked suspicious. She walked out into the hall and made her way to her room. That is when Sabui appeared from a shadow next to her doorway. It was unclear how long he had been there, he just seemed to all of the sudden appear.

"Sabui? What are you do here?" Hinata asked, shocked to see that he had followed them so far north. She walked closer to him hesitantly, something about him was off. Sabui did not respond to her question. He just leered at her silently, as something dropped from the ceiling onto Hinata's shoulder, attaching itself to her neck. Hinata swatted at the creature, but it only dug its teeth deeper into her throat. She could feel the chakra draining from her body and her mind becoming cloudy. As she collapsed to the ground, she whispered, "Neji… why?"

Naruto woke up with a start. The nightmare that terrorized his sleep continued to flood his mind with fear. His palms were sweating, his heart pounded against his chest, and his face flushed. Visions of Sasuke lost and alone in the darkness turned into Hinata lost among the shadows too. Like with Sasuke, he felt completely powerless as he tried futilely to find her and bring her back. But even after he woke, he knew his dream was not just a dream. He still felt the emptiness of her absence tear into him. He began to panic. His body hyperventilating.

"Naruto!" Yamato got up from his own sleeping mat and moved over next to the panicked young man, as Naruto clutched at his chest doubling over. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

Kakashi appeared from his room next door then too. "Naruto! Take deep breaths. You're having a panic attack."

Naruto attempted to slow his breathing but that emptiness was eating away at him. He started to feel an unbearable pain as if his entire chest had been ripped opened. All he could make out was, "Hinata… is... gone." Before he crumpled forward onto his face.

Moving slowly through the darkness of the woods, Itachi felt his way north where he sensed his tracker was headed. His eyesight was already beginning to fail. He could only make out blurred shapes, and colors were starting to fade into grays. He had not expected Sasuke's eyes to fall into darkness so quickly. His own mangekyo had lasted for almost half a year before he was forced into possessing a tailed beast in order to keep his eyesight.

When he first discovered that he was still alive, he thought about ways to reverse his inevitable blindness. When the sharingan was touched by an alternative source of chakra, whether it was from a tailed beast or natural sage chakra, it seemed to reverse the blindness. But Itachi had no desire to take on the arduous path of a sage and obtaining another tailed beast would requiring killing. His thoughts were also clouded by the frustration of being pulled from the long awaited peace that a death by Sasuke's hands would have brought him. These thoughts were mixed with the guilt that he did not deserve the relief of death. For years, his subordinate had been the one remaining connection to the place and the people who brought him the most pain, so it was fitting that she was the one who would prolonged his suffering in this hell. As long as everyone thought Sasuke had killed him, it would not affect his ultimate plan and perhaps seeing the plan through would be enough to relieve just a bit of the burden he felt. He finally made up his mind that he would just allow himself to go blind, when Masuku up and disappeared.

She had gone out as usual on one of her trips to Konoha and had never returned. He knew something was very wrong when over a week had passed, and she still was not back. She always returned to him in about a week's time. But that was before, when he possessed his own eyes. He had planned for her to be drawn to Sasuke soon after his death. Like with Naruto, a genjutsu would trigger in her presence if Sasuke activated Itachi's sharingan in close enough range. But this one gave instructions on Itachi's future wishes for his brother and how to keep her safe. However, things had not worked out as planned, it had been too long since the last time that he cast a genjutsu. And Itachi knew better than anyone that he had been the only one standing between her and madness for years.

So he began to follow her north as fast as he could travel with his limited eyesight, and in the towns that he passed through, he heard rumors about the Akatsuki and Sasuke's team, Taka. It seems that his little brother had taken the other path... the darker path. Madara had found a way to get to Sasuke.

But as long as Sasuke still believed he needed to acquire the nine tails to save his eyesight, there was already a back up plan in place. He had given the one thing that would undoubtedly stop Sasuke to the one person who would accept him back no matter what.

Hinata opened her eyes to find Sasuke staring down at her from above. "Sasuke?"

She looked around herself. They were in some sort of strange room, but she could not see its walls or its ceiling. She also could not feel Naruto or Kurama through the binding seal. It was not like when he traveled to Mount Myoboku. There was some sense of their presence though faint during those months. Now it was almost as if they were both completely gone from the world. Or perhaps… she was the one who was completely gone from the world. "What is this place?"

"Don't worry about it." Sasuke said coldly. "Just know you will be here as my captive until Naruto comes for you."

Hinata sat up, spotting Sabui and the red headed girl from Sasuke's team. "Sabui, why did you bring me here?"

"Because I told him to." Sasuke replied for his subordinate. "This is what you get for being too loyal and trusting. You should be more like me, don't you think?"

Hinata looked at Sasuke. But there was no anger in her eyes. Just sadness and a bit of pity. He did not like that look, so he snarled at her. "Also. Don't be too much like Naruto. It will only get you killed."

The man in the orange mask appeared then. Sasuke turned to him and demanded, "Get me out of here! NOW!"

"You should be thanking me, Sasuke." Madara scolded. "I saved your life and brought you here with the rest of your team... or what's left of them. And where were you planning on stashing the girl, anyway... if I had not intervened and transported your comrade and your captive here? Anywhere else and the nine tails jinchuuriki would have found her instantly."

"I would have thought of something." Arrogantly, Sasuke waved his hand in Madara's direction, dismissively.

"I'm sure you would have… but right now, I have something even better for you. I have something that you desperately want."

"Oh yea? What is that?" Sasuke replied skeptically.

"Danzo is waiting for you, just outside of here." Madara pulled Sasuke, Karin, and Sabui into his transportation, leaving Hinata alone in the other dimension.

"Take Naruto back to the village. I'll track down whoever took Hinata -though I already have a pretty good idea who did it." Kakashi threw on his traveling cloak as Yamato lifted an unconscious Naruto up onto his back.

Yamato paused. "Who do you think took her?"

"There was no struggle. So whoever it was -she knew them." Kakashi replied. "Everyone has been suspicious of that altered Hyuga boy except the Hyuga clan. I'm certain now that he was probably sent to Konoha by Sasuke, in order to take Hinata. They are trying to get to Naruto and the nine tails. What is unclear is how they were able to severe the binding seal so thoroughly. She is definitely still alive... they wouldn't have bothered to take her if they planned to kill her."

Yamato nodded. "Cutting the binding seal has had a very bad affect on Naruto. Particularly with all that is going on with Sasuke."

"I would keep him as calm as possible until you get back to the village... or you might end up fighting the nine tailed fox on your own out there." Kakashi instructed.

Yamato shifted Naruto to his other shoulder and then took off back towards the village.

Kakashi looked up at the roof of the inn. "You can come out now."

Sai appeared from the shadows on the roof, hopping lightly down to the snow.

"What are you doing here Sai?"

"I am just a clone." Sai replied stoically. "The real me is following Sakura towards Sasuke's position in the Land of Iron. The decision was made by the rest of Naruto's comrades to go after Sasuke and deal with him themselves. Sakura wanted to be the one to speak to Naruto about going after Sasuke. Sakura, Kiba, Lee and I were sent with her. But I had a feeling that Sakura planned to ditch us and go off on her own, so I placed a clone among them and then tracked the group from behind. Just a few minutes ago, Sakura ambushed the rest of the group with a gas bomb. She's taken off after Sasuke by herself."

Kakashi sighed. "Can anything else go wrong? Sakura will get herself killed going after Sasuke by herself. Come on, I have to go after her."

He figured this would still bring him closer to finding Hinata.

Danzo removed the rest of the bandage from his right arm. The arm was paler than the rest of his body and it was filled from the bicep all the way to the wrist with sharingan. He lifted his palm towards the mountain beyond the bridge and the eye opened, revealing a white byakugan.

"Where did you get all of those sharingan?" Sasuke snarled. He knew exactly where he had gotten the byakugan. It was Sabui's right eye. The one that had been replaced by that ugly black parasite.

Danzo ignored Sasuke. "Come out girl. I know you are hiding over there."

"Forget that! Face me! I'm your opponent." Sasuke demanded as he activated his chidori lightning cutter. So far, Danzo had managed to escape all of his other attacks. Sasuke had already attempted his amaterasu twice to no avail. Danzo was just erasing his attacks, and coming out completely unscathed each time. The elder possessed some sort of powerful jutsu which he claimed made him immortal, but Sasuke was calling his bluff. The jutsu appeared to be connected to that arm full of sharingan and like any jutsu connected to the sharingan, the young Uchiha was certain there had to be a weakness.

At Danzo's beckoning, a young woman with disheveled long red hair appeared from behind some rocks. She was stumbling around as though not completely in control of herself. Ignoring Sasuke, she stared intensely at Danzo. She wore the ninja flak jacket of a konoha jonin, but it and the rest of her clothes were torn almost to shreds. Her violet eyes were wild with madness. Sasuke recognized that look. It was the same look that Jugo got when he changed forms.

Danzo retreated from Sasuke and made some hand seals. "Suki Harami... Masuku. Listen to me. He is your enemy."

The leaf elder pointed towards Sasuke. Masuku turned to look at the young man. She tilted her head slightly as though recognizing something in him, and then she started to shake her head violently. As she shook her head, she began to transform. Her hair turning black and shaggy. Her eyes solemn and black, her body thick and tall. Now Sasuke recognized this form. He frowned. It was Itachi. He would have thought this was a genjutsu if he had not already recognized that Danzo was attempting to place the woman under himself.

But Danzo's genjutsu did not last long. The young woman shifted back to her previous form and turned to growl wildly at Danzo in anger. The kunoichi appeared to have some sort of resistance to chakra manipulation.

"It seems like she does not care to listen to you." Sasuke observed tauntingly. He wiped the sweat from his brow and set his feet. He had used the distraction of the woman's appearance to set up his next move, placing his own subtle genjutsu over Danzo.

"I have to give you credit for placing me under a genjutsu." Danzo released himself from the illusion quickly, but he had already been under for just enough time. Sasuke appeared behind Danzo with his sword ready to strike. But he was stopped by an invisible force mid step.

Masuku was also being held in place by the same invisible force as she raged against it to get at Danzo.

The curse marks began to appear, starting from their feet and winding up onto their chests and necks.

"But you are still no where near to the skill level of Itachi." Danzo stated calmly. "And you, Masuku. Well, it's a good thing that I always place curse marks on all of my subordinates."

"How?" Sasuke managed to get out before the curse mark made it to his mouth.

"Aww." Danzo smiled maliciously. "When I struck you the last time, it was not to injure you, it was to place one of my curse marks on your body."

Karin appeared then. In a panic over the sight of a paralyzed Sasuke, she came running onto the battlefield from her hiding spot on the side. But she was quickly thorted by Danzo's powerful sidekick. It sent her flying into a pile of rocks, burying her underneath.

"No use wasting ninjutsu against that one." Danzo said, arrogantly, as he pulled the sword from Sasuke's hands. "So you've come after me because you now know what happened between the elders and Itachi so many years ago, do you?

But was it our manipulation, or Itachi's need to save you that was the Uchiha clans' ultimate downfall? And what a waste. Look at you. The pathetic trash that you have become."

"Take a good look at your little brother, Itachi, wherever you are. Look what you have created. This state that he is in." Danzo raised Sasuke's sword and swung at his throat. "This boy is your ultimate mistake without a doubt."

As the sword grazed his throat, Sasuke's susanoo activated, surrounding him with fiercely cold chakra and knocking Danzo back and away.

This susanoo flared even fiercer than before, taking full form and breaking Sasuke free of the curse mark while maintaining flesh and armor over its own structure. It held a bow and arrow, which it loaded and aimed at Danzo.

Quickly, Danzo made some hand seals and shouted, "Release!"

His right arm sprouted wood, stretching out and grabbing hold of Masuku, quickly shifting her into the path of the arrow. The young woman's rage spewed from her as the curse mark released. Multiple large chakra chains released from her body, catching the arrow mid flight and ripping it to pieces. As the arrow disappeared, Danzo's wood wrapped further around her, restraining her body further so she was completely trapped inside a miniature winding oak tree.

Madara, who had been watching the fight quietly beside Sabui from a safe distance above, chuckled. "So that is how he's managed to control all those sharingan. He had the First Hokage's cells implanted in him. And a byakugan to boot. I always knew Orochimaru was way too clever for his own good."

Sabui looked over at Madara with his left eye. He growled, "Orochimaru isn't that clever. He's dead."

Madara tsked and replied, lightly, "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Finally digging herself out of the rubble, Karin ran towards Sasuke and Danzo's position again. "Sasuke! Those hand seals Danzo made. It wasn't for the curse mark! He has reactivated the jutsu that makes him invincible!"

Karin could feel Danzo's chakra shift forms as he activated the Izanagi. Sasuke's susanoo sent another arrow flying quickly after the first, and it met its mark piercing through Danzo's chest. But as he died, the old man just faded away as though he were a mere illusion.

"Humm…" Madara said, thoughtfully. "I count ten Sharingan on that arm. A byakugan and Hashiromo's cells. So he is trying to control the nine tails. And I'm sure he planned to turn the girl into his own personal jinchuuriki. Perhaps seal himself to her, too. What do you think?"

Ignoring Madara's question, Sabui asked, suspiciously. "Better question? What are you after? Why did you lure Sasuke into this fight, when I'm sure you could have handled Danzo yourself."

"Sasuke's power must... mature... before he is useful to me." Madara replied simply. He looked over at the Hyuga, and Sabui could almost feel his smile through his mask. "But don't worry. You are just as important to me as Sasuke."

Karin felt Danzo's chakra drop significantly after he used the Izanagi again. Another one of the eyes on his right arm closed. She was certain all of this was connected. And the jutsu was powerful enough that he could only hold it for so long.

She watched as Danzo ran towards Sasuke's position. Another arrow hit him, but again he faded away, reforming completely unscathed as if Sasuke's attack never even happened.

"This is terrible." She whispered to herself. "All of Sasuke's attacks are being erased while all of Danzo's attacks are kept. This jutsu has to have a weakness."

"Danzo has stooped to using a forbidden jutsu against Sasuke." Madara continued his unwanted play by play for Sabui. "The Izanagi turns the reality that surrounds its user into a mere illusion. So any damage done to the wielder can be undone by turning it into a illusion too. And then, the user can start all over again. Of course the one enormous draw back to the Izanagi is that any eye that uses this jutsu will immediately fall into darkness. And unlike most jutsu connected to the mangekyo, there is no way to reverse or prevent this from happening."

"But with all of those eyes… He wanted to extend the amount of time that he could use the jutsu. The more sharingan... the longer the jutsu can be used. So he chose to become one of Orochimaru's lab rats, too." Madara looked over at Sabui and said apologetically, "Rats are highly intelligent creatures of course."

"Whatever." Sabui snapped, irritated.

Just then Danzo made some hands seals creating a summoning jutsu. A large half elephant and half tiger like creature appeared on the bridge. It began to roar and suck in massive amounts of air, pulling Sasuke's susanoo with it. The chakra structure was giving way, but not completely.

"The baku. The devourer of nightmares. What else does that old geezer have up his sleeve?" Madara asked suspiciously.

Danzo moved behind Sasuke, spewing his dangerously strong wind style jutsu from his mouth and ripping apart the back of the susanoo.

"Fire style jutsu!" Sasuke spewed a large blast of fire at the baku causing it to swallow the flames and stifling its vacuum like mouth.

Danzo came at Sasuke in the direction of the susanoo's weak point. As he got close, the susanoo swung. Its fist made impact with the left side of Danzo's body and sent him flying into a pilar. As Danzo hit the pilar, the baku disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke and what remained of his susanoo dove towards Danzo, striking downward into his chest, crushing it and forcing the elder to use another eye.

"Clever boy." Danzo stated. "I think Sasuke has figured it out."

"What?" Sabui asked, curiously.

"The battle is over once all of Danzo's eyes are shut. This battle is all about who can out last who." Madara paused. "Of course there is another way."

Sasuke and Danzo ran at each other with chakra blades ready to strike. They both pierced through the lower thorax of their opponent in what appeared to be a stand off. Danzo smiled as he attempted to activate his Izanagi one more time. But the jutsu failed.

Now Sasuke smiled maliciously. He released the genjutsu and the last sharingan on Danzo's arm closed. "You are dead, old man."

Mortally wounded, Danzo collapsed back, grasping at his right arm. Sasuke used the last bit of energy and pivoted forward to slice through Danzo's wrist, causing his right hand to drop off. "That byakugan does not belong to you."

Unable to control the implanted cells any further, a large tree began to sprout out of the side of Danzo's body.

Karin ran out to Sasuke as he also collapsed in pain. His wounds were almost as bad as Danzo's wounds and he was coughing up blood now. She propped him back up and said, "here take my arm. Have some of my chakra."

Placing her arm to Sasuke's mouth, she winced as he bit down. He drew as much chakra as quickly as he could from Karin, healing himself in the process.

But Danzo had already severed off the rest of his right arm and was coming at them again. He grabbed Karin and pulled her up by the neck in front of him. He pressed down on her throat, choking her.

"Help me Sasuke!" Karin choked out, weakly. Her face began to turn red as she futilely swatted at Danzo's arm.

"How pathetic." Sasuke stood up and activated his chidori. He narrowed his eyes at Danzo. He did not even bother to activate his sharingan again. "Taking a little girl as a hostage. This from the man who has extolled self sacrifice."

"I'm not doing this for myself!" Danzo replied, dramatically, placing even more pressure on Karin's neck as she continued to struggle to escape. "I must live for the leaf village and the shinobi world's sake! Because I will be the one… the reformer who will change this shinobi world... I cannot die."

"You think way too much of yourself." Sasuke replied, sarcastically. Then he spoke to the young woman who was held captive. "Don't move Karin. Hold very still."

"Ok." Karin smiled thankfully at her comrade and stopped struggling against her captor as Sasuke instructed. Then he recklessly pierced through her body into Danzo's chest and into Danzo's heart with his chidori spear. Blood sputtered from Karin's mouth as the jutsu went through her and into the elder.

"One down… soon the rest will follow, big brother." Sasuke smiled maliciously.

"But Sasuke… what was I to you? How could you?" Karin's head lulled forward and she crumpled to the ground. Weakly she moaned, "we were... your friends."

"We were never friends. You were always just a means to an end." Sasuke replied coldly, as he stepped over her body to follow Danzo who was attempting to retreat. "Besides, you got yourself captured... your useless to me now."

As Danzo limped away, attempting to save himself, a large cracking sound was heard nearby as Masuku finally freed herself from the prison of Danzo's tree.

Grunting and growling, Masuku ran like a wild animal at the elder. Her chakra chains extended from her back, wrapping themselves around Danzo's body and ripping. She pounced on him. Slashing and ripping until she was completely covered in his blood.

Sasuke stopped his approach, narrowing his eyes at the crazed woman. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Sardonically, he remarked. "That was my kill."

The woman stopped her butchering, and her head jerked back towards Sasuke. Though her face was now completely covered in Danzo's blood, soaking her long hair as it stuck to her face, Sasuke was certain he had seen that face before. Recognition came to her eyes again too, as she looked into Sasuke's eyes. She stood up and moved away from her prey and towards Sasuke, grunting two words, "Itachi's eyes."

"I'm not Itachi." Sasuke sneered, as he finally realized who she reminded him of. Naruto Uzumaki. "Who are you anyway?"

The young woman narrowed her eyes at Sasuke as though taken aback. She shook her head as if trying to shake out her thoughts. Then she started to grunt again, before charging wildly at Sasuke.

He leapt back to avoid her chains. But before he could counter or even activate his sharingan, Madara appeared between them, his robes flying. His mask was lifted, but Sasuke could only see his back. Masuku growled at the older Uchiha, but a second later, her eyes rolled up into her head and she dropped like a sack of rocks to the ground.