A/N: Hey everyone! Yet again, as I do every time, I apologize for how long it's taken me to update. But don't worry; the previous chapter is nicely summed up by the characters in this chapter, in case you forgot what happened. Anyways, this is the last chapter before the grand finale, so I hope you all enjoy it! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Jack the Ripper.

Ashes Ashes, We All Fall Down

Chapter 24: Preparing for the End

Thursday, 8 November1888

Sasuke awoke to bursting feelings of pain, discomfort, and disorientation. His vision was blurry and he soon discovered that his balance was in no better shape. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to his head and his knees burned with a sharp, steady pain. He didn't even try to suppress his grunt of pain.

Once his vision cleared he looked around at his surroundings with confusion. He was in his room at Iruka's house – how? Hadn't he been in Jiraiya's cellar? Speaking of which…what happened to him? It took longer than it should have to piece together the fuzzy memories. The last thing he remembered was trying to overpower Jiraiya, failing to do so, and being suffocated until he passed out. That was the third time that bastard had forced him into unconsciousness. Sasuke reflected on Jiraiya's physical dominance over him bitterly. How could he protect Sakura from that murderer if he couldn't even protect himself?

Speaking of the devil, Sakura opened the door a moment later, smiling when she saw that he was awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Sasuke responded with a grimace. "My head is killing me and I'm confused. How did I get here?"

Sakura frowned. "Let me get Naruto and then we can explain." She left the room and Sasuke closed his eyes while he waited, gritting his teeth against the pain in his head. He opened his eyes when she returned with Naruto. "Naruto, what happened? How did I get here?"

Naruto plopped down on the wooden chair by Sasuke's bed. "We'll probably be talking for awhile, so make yourselves comfortable." Sakura took his advice and sat on the bed by Sasuke, touching his hand lightly. "Alright, I'll start from the beginning. When you snuck into Jiraiya's house, I stalled him for as long as I could, but eventually he said that he had an important matter to take care of and he had to leave."

"When Jiraiya got back there was a coach waiting outside his house and Orochimaru stepped out. They talked for a little while before going inside. I shone my lantern but you never came out. Eventually Naruto came and we thought that maybe you were hiding and waiting until Orochimaru left and Jiraiya went to sleep to sneak out," Sakura interjected.

"Sakura would've waited there forever, but I know you were probably captured and it would've been pointless. We went back and in the morning I hired two kids to keep watch. I knew I couldn't sneak in until Jiraiya left. It was late last night when he finally left so I broke in and found you in the cellar tied to the stairs. You seemed really disoriented and you kept trying to speak but you couldn't. I carried you back here and Sakura dressed your wounds."

"Your head is bruised pretty badly. I think you might have a concussion – that would explain the disorientation. You're also bruised on your neck, wrists, and ankles, and your knees are all cut up. I pulled most of the glass shards out, but there are probably more buried in your skin. You really need proper medical attention," Sakura said firmly.

Sasuke patted his head delicately. "A concussion? I'm not surprised. The bastard nearly bashed my skull in."

Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Sasuke, what the hell happened to you?" Naruto demanded.

"Well, before I say anything else, I have to get rid of the elephant in the room. Jiraiya is Jack the Ripper. I'm sorry, Naruto. I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth. I heard him say it myself."

A look of pain and betrayal twisted Naruto's features, one so intense that it made Sasuke hate Jiraiya more than he had before. "I can't believe it…I can't believe he'd do that to me." Naruto clenched his fingers in his hair tightly. "He's like my grandpa. I love him. I thought he cared about me…but he lied." Tears came streaming down his cheeks and he sniffled loudly. Sakura left Sasuke's side and went to Naruto, taking him into her arms comfortingly. Her tears soaked his blonde hair.

It was that tragic image that made Sasuke decide. That bastard had destroyed too many lives, forced too many tears to fall. He deserved nothing short of death. And Sasuke would be the one to kill him.

"I hate him," Naruto gasped, choked by his own sorrow. "The things he did – I'll never forgive him. I hate him."

Sakura stroked Naruto's hair gently, crying along with him and squeezing his shoulders when he mumbled angrily. After awhile Naruto gently moved Sakura's arms away and rubbed his red eyes. "Tell us everything, Sasuke. I need to know why…"

Naruto didn't need to say another word. Sasuke nodded and started from the beginning. "After I snuck in I checked Jiraiya's bedroom first. The only things of interest at first were these locked drawers by his bed, but I couldn't get them open with the lock picks. Then I had a crazy idea – don't ask me why – and thought there might be something behind the portrait of Jiraiya and Tsunade on the wall. I turned out to be right: there was a safe behind it. Unfortunately though I couldn't figure out the combination, so I went to look around his office instead. The only thing I found in there was a bottle of red ink, but I took it with me just in case.

"I couldn't shake the itching feeling that there was something important in that safe, so I went back up to try again. I tried every combination I could think of, but I still couldn't get it open. Then I went out to see if Sakura had lit the lantern yet, and she had. I didn't have time to get out, so I hid in the closet and listened to Jiraiya and Orochimaru talk. I found out that they're working together. Jiraiya does the dirty work while Orochimaru covers up for him. He has total control over the police." Sasuke paused, choosing not to mention Jiraiya's plan for Sakura yet. He didn't want to frighten her; he'd wait until the end.

"Eventually they both left the room so I ran to the backdoor. I was too hasty – I should've waited. Orochimaru caught me and distracted me while Jiraiya hit me on the head from behind. I blacked out and woke up in the cellar with my hands and ankles bound. Jiraiya and Orochimaru came down and told me everything. Jiraiya admitted that he murdered my parents and all of Sakura's friends, and that he killed the handwriting analyst and Kankuro in order to frame Itachi. He also said that there was a message within the graffito: 'Beware women that tell lies meant to hurt J'."

Naruto looked up in surprise. "That was the start of my guess. He really was helping me then. That bastard played me!"

Sasuke nodded grimly. "That's not all. Orochimaru's been playing all of us too. Orochimaru isn't helping Jiraiya for nothing – he gets something out of it too. Jiraiya gets his revenge and Orochimaru gets publicity. He said he wants to 'clean up" Whitechapel, and the murders will help him. The media has drawn attention to it and the national authorities are coming to take control of the situation."

"So that's how he's justifying all of it?" Sakura spat. "It's fine to waste some poor girls' lives as long as Whitechapel gets cleaned up in the end? How disgusting! He's a disgrace to the police force!"

Naruto swallowed loudly. "Why did Jiraiya want revenge? What did they ever do to him?"

"It all started with Tsunade," Sasuke explained. "Jiraiya said she had drinking and gambling problems, and they fought continually until she eventually left him. She had trouble getting by so she reverted to prostitution. Jiraiya said he tried to help her but she refused him. He said she was living her life for nothing but liquor, and that was no life to live. So…" Sasuke spoke his next words delicately. "…he put her out of her misery."

Naruto ground his teeth angrily, struggling with conflicting emotions. "But…how? I can't believe – I know that he loved her, more than anything. I know he did."

Sasuke knew Naruto was right. When Jiraiya spoke about Tsunade, there was a softness and intensity to his voice that was clearly love. But he also spoke of her with bitterness and hate. "I know he did. But in the end, his hate was stronger than his love."

"What about the others? Why did he kill my friends?" Sakura asked, her voice heavy with sorrow.

"When Tsunade left him, he fell into a deep depression. Shizune was Tsunade's best friend, so he tried to use her as a substitute for Tsunade. Shizune wouldn't have it and left him, sending Jiraiya into a deeper depression. He said she was better off dead so she couldn't give 'false hope' to men." He observed Sakura and Naruto's pained expressions, but they made no comments so he continued on. "Tsunade was also the reason for his bitterness against Shizune and Temari. He said that they could've persuaded her to quit that lifestyle and accept his help, because she would've listened to them. But they didn't…"

Sasuke didn't need to say anymore. Sakura's eyes were already wet and it was Naruto's turn to hold her hand. "Does he think he's God?" she sobbed bitterly. "Does he think he has the right to decide who lives and dies? Doesn't he know he's hurting the people who trusted him?"

Sakura buried her face in Naruto's shoulder as Sasuke's heart clenched with pain. He wished he didn't have to tell them these things, wished he didn't have to hurt them. But they needed to know the truth, no matter how harsh it was.

After Sakura's sniffles subsided and she wiped her eyes, Sasuke continued. "After they told me everything Orochimaru left and Jiraiya suffocated me when I tried to scream. When I woke up it was Wednesday and Jiraiya came down with breakfast. After he left I smashed one of the wine bottles between my knees to muffle the sound. I cut the ropes with the broken glass and waited by the staircase for Jiraiya to come down. When he did I attacked him with the broken bottle, but he overpowered me and strangled me. That's the last thing I remember."

There was silence as they absorbed the information. Then, slowly and with a strained voice, Sakura asked, "What about me, Sasuke? What did Jiraiya say about me?"

Her watery green eyes begged him to tell the truth. She didn't want a watered down version. "He said that he would kill you in your room on the ninth, during the night when you're sleeping." The words were like acid on his tongue and he was disgusted by the fact that they even needed to be said. How vulgar and immoral was a world in which he had to tell the woman he loved when and how she would die?

He expected her to gasp, scream, sob, or something, but she surprised him by merely sniffling softly and biting her lip. "I would be more terrified if Jack the Ripper's identity was still a mystery. But now that I know how close he really was all this time…it causes me more pain than fear."

"I know it's hard for both of you, more so than it is for me," Sasuke said, his coal eyes flicking between emerald and sky blue ones, "but I need your help to take care of this. We have to stop him."

"How?" Sakura asked. "We can't get the police involved, not even Kakashi or Shikamaru. Orochimaru is blocking our only source of help."

"We need to take things into our own hands," Sasuke replied. "We need to set up a trap."

"But doesn't Jiraiya know that you know his plan? He won't be reckless – he's too smart," Naruto pointed out. He was trying to hide his emotions, but Sasuke could hear the strain in his voice. It pained Naruto to talk about Jiraiya like this while the wound was still so fresh. Sasuke wished he could give Naruto time to mourn and adjust, but time was something they didn't have much of. Naruto was strong – Sasuke knew he could tough it out.

"You're right. He knows that I'll try to protect Sakura, but I don't think that will deter him. He doesn't see me as a threat," Sasuke said bitterly. "He'll go through with it. Besides, we don't have much of a choice. It's the only chance we have to stop him."

After a few moments of silence Naruto looked up with fierce determination in his eyes. "We're the only ones who can stop him. I trust you, Sasuke. Just tell me what to do."

Sasuke nodded appreciatively. "We'll have to act quickly. Jiraiya said the ninth, which is tomorrow. However, Jiraiya killed the others in the early hours of the morning…so we should plan on him making his move late tonight."

Sakura inhaled sharply and they both looked at her with worry. She shook her head. "It's ok. It's just…I didn't think it would be this soon. Just keep talking, please."

Frowning doubtfully, Sasuke didn't like the expression Sakura wore at all, but he continued on like she asked. "Jiraiya said he would do it in Sakura's room, so he'll probably be watching to make sure she's there. So here's my plan: the three of us will go to Sakura's room tonight so Jiraiya will think we're trying to protect her from him. When it gets late Naruto and I will leave and Jiraiya will think that we think the coast is clear, so he can make his move. Only we won't really leave. Naruto, you'll leave with Sakura, who will be disguised so Jiraiya thinks it's me, while I stay behind. When Jiraiya comes – "

Sakura and Naruto objected simultaneously. "Hold on," Naruto said. "We can't leave you alone. You'll be killed!"

"Let me finish," Sasuke said. "After you take Sakura to safety, Naruto, you'll circle back around and keep watch. When you see Jiraiya come into the room, you'll come in and we can take him down together."

"I think not!" Sakura snapped. "You can't shut me out of this. I won't let either of you get hurt because of me."

"And I won't let you get hurt," Sasuke said firmly. "Naruto and I can handle this."

Crossing her arms defiantly, Sakura glared at him. "Are you forgetting who has the brains here? You and Naruto may have the brawn, but what if something goes wrong? You need a woman who can reason sensibly. If Jiraiya goes berserk, there's no way in hell you can talk him out of it, Sasuke. You need me to diffuse the tension."

Sasuke faltered and finally surrendered to her fierce emerald gaze. "Fine," he relented. "But I won't let you stay in the room with him."

"Yes you will," Sakura insisted. "I want to be used as bait, like Itachi planned. It would fool Jiraiya even more. Just think about it – he expects you to hide me. I would be in more danger being away from you."

"She does have a point," Naruto agreed.

Sighing, Sasuke ran his hand through his hair in frustration and winced when he touched the bruise. "I understand what you're saying, but I would hate myself if anything happened to you."

"And I would hate myself if anything happened to you," Sakura said firmly. "I trust you to protect me. Now trust me to protect you."

Before Sasuke could object again, Naruto interjected. "And I would hate myself if anything happened to either of you, so let's just agree that we'll all be there to protect each other, ok?"

Sakura smiled affectionately at Naruto. "Just like old times?"

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Sasuke sighed but he couldn't stop the corners of his lips from curving upward into a small smile. "Fine. We need a new plan then." He bent his legs in order to push himself into a better sitting position but stopped abruptly when a sharp, burning pain exploded in his knees. Gritting his teeth, he slowly stretched his legs out again.

"I was right, you do need to see a doctor," Sakura said, worry creasing her features. She pulled the covers down and rolled Sasuke's pant legs up to reveal his knees. The white bandages were stained with blood. Sakura hurried out and reappeared with a fresh role of gauze.

"I can't go to the doctor," Sasuke objected as Sakura removed the dirty bandages. "I don't have time."

"Now isn't the time to be stubborn!" Sakura berated. "Your wounds look worse already. What if they get infected?"

Wincing, Sasuke tried to ignore the stinging pain as Sakura wiped his knees with an alcohol-soaked cloth. "You don't understand. It's not safe for me to go to the doctor. The combination of all my wounds is too suspicious – the doctor will be able to tell I've been attacked. He might contact the police and then we would fall right into Orochimaru's hands."

Sakura frowned. "I didn't think about that…But what about Kabuto? Can't you trust him not to say anything?"

Sasuke hesitated. Could he trust Kabuto? After all, he was very close to Orochimaru…but Orochimaru was just using him. "Yes, I can trust him," he finally answered. "But the problem is I can't get near him because he'll be at headquarters."

"Sasuke's right," Naruto conceded. "We're all alone now."

Silence followed his revelation because they all knew it was true. Sakura broke the silence with a sigh of defeat. "Fine, I guess you can't get medical help. But you have to promise that you won't be too rough on your body."

Sasuke did promise, but as he did Naruto snorted and Sakura sighed again because they all knew, himself included, that he would do exactly the opposite.

After Sakura wrapped fresh gauze around his knees she helped him into a better sitting position. "Alright, so we need a new plan," Sasuke started. "Later tonight Sakura and I will go to her room and stay there. Naruto, you'll still watch Jiraiya's house and trail him when he leaves. When he comes to Sakura's room you'll come in behind him and both of us will ambush him."

"Oh, I get it! And when you and I have him detained Sakura will go get a constable because we'll have proof and Orochimaru can't interfere."

Sasuke hesitated in responding to Naruto. He didn't have any intention of getting the police involved…at least not until Jiraiya was dead. But there was no way he could tell either Naruto or Sakura that. "We'll see what happens," he answered cryptically.

Sakura was shooting him a knowing look that Sasuke pointedly ignored. "Also, I don't understand the first part," Naruto continued. "If you go there with Sakura, won't Jiraiya know and call it off?"

"Like I said, he's not afraid of me. I think he'll come anyways. And it's not like we have much of a choice," Sasuke said gravely. "This is our only chance to bring him to justice."

Naruto was frowning. "And one more thing…will the two of us be strong enough to hold Jiraiya back? I think we can do it…but if we mess up…"

Naruto didn't need to say another word. They all knew what would happen if they messed up. Jiraiya's knife was very sharp and his mind was very unstable. "We can't mess up," Sasuke said seriously.

It was quiet as the three of them became lost in their separate troubled thoughts. Eventually Naruto slowly rose to his feet. "If you two don't mind, I need to take a little time to myself before we prepare for tonight."

Sakura and Sasuke watched him go. No explanation was needed. Sakura stood up soon afterwards. "I think I'll do the same, unless you need me for anything." Sasuke shook his head and she dismissed herself.

The fool sat at his desk, sifting through photographs, trinkets, and notebooks; memories both old and new. A bitter longing welled up within him. How could he have been so fooled? All his life he'd looked up to a man who was a deranged, cold-blooded killer. How had he not seen it? Was he stupid? He clenched his teeth as tears dampened his cheeks. This betrayal was too much – it hit too close to home. He loved Jiraiya like a grandfather...but this deception changed everything. He wanted to hate Jiraiya…but he didn't hate him enough. He refused to let Jiraiya spiral further into darkness.

Naruto would save him; he would show Jiraiya the light, no matter what it took.

The victim took refuge in her room, staring sullenly out the window at the street and buildings below. Dozens of people strolled down the dirty street, the street that was so familiar and dear to her. London was a hellhole to her…but it was all she knew. It was her home, and because of that she couldn't help but love it. It was only fit that she would die there. As she mused, she watched a family walk by: a young couple with a cute young boy between them. Each parent held one of his hands – they were all connected. Her eyes clouded with tears. She never knew that type of love, tenderness, and intimacy…and now she never would.

Sakura knew that Sasuke could protect her, but she wouldn't let him if it would be at the cost of his own life. She would make sure he lived, no matter what it took.

The avenger gazed up at the ceiling of his room that was once white but was now stained yellow from wear and age. He could sympathize with the ceiling. Only a few months ago he was so naïve and innocent, but this case forced maturity upon him and exposed him to so much darkness that he knew the crimson stains would never completely go away. So much death…so much pain…all at the hands of one man. Clenching his fists tightly, he allowed bitterness and fury to consume him. Jiraiya had done too much damage that he could never repent for. His childhood was ripped away from him by that murderer…so he would rip away that murderer's future.

Sasuke refused to let Jiraiya kill any more innocents. He would take Jiraiya's life, no matter what it took.