The Wanderers

Chapter 48 – In the Grips of Madness

A/N: I do apologise for the lateness of this chapter. I've been so business here in Japan it's been difficult to find time to write. I'm still getting it done, but yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, you wouldn't need a Sharingan to use genjutsu.


***Previously-On***

With Lee having joined their group, Jito was able to lead the infiltration group to a facility that they were fairly certain was being used to convert shinobi to the Quiraji cause. They discovered a type of enemy called Red Guard who Lee had experienced fighting before, and were able to take them by surprise and defeat them before entering the building. It initially appeared empty, and they were forced to split into two groups to cover more area. Kakashi, Konan and Lee took the upper levels and found a small number of staff members, though Lee was thoroughly ruthless in interrogating them for Sensou's location. They also split up to find any information they can, and Kakashi found himself confronted by Shikyo, the leader of the Quiraji who had destroyed Amegakure by herself. To his surprise she offered him a place and a code, though her motivations were a mystery to him as she disappeared as quickly as she appeared. He regrouped with his other two members and they found a secret door with Shikyo's code, but were shocked at what they discovered. The other group, consisting of Jito, Sasuke and Fiore descended down into the depths of the facility. They found piles of skeletons that looked like they had had the life sucked out of them, and to their disgust they discovered that they were prisoners of the facility that had been slaughtered by Kyoukou, who had just finished up when they arrived. Sasuke tried to charge him in rage, but Jito held him back while Fiore fought Kyoukou quite easily, forcing him to flee though not before revealing his ability to de-age himself. They pushed through a double door at the end of the floor and found Uchiha Itachi suspended within a strange pod machine. Seeing it as his duty, Jito took it upon himself to delve into the machine to try and break Sasuke's brother out of the trance, taking the battle to the subconscious level to defeat the Uchiha in a genjutsu battle.

***End Summary***


Pain.

Such terrifying pain.

Unbelievably persistent pain shot through Jito's mind to the point that, despite the fact he knew it was only an illusion, it was so agonising he could barely stand it.

Time flows like a river, endlessly moving from one direction to the next...

Within his mind he let out a cry of agony, feeling as though swords were being pushed repeatedly into his brain.

Life becomes death. Death becomes nothingness…

He couldn't see anything but pitch black darkness, yet he could feel his body like it was right in front of him. Every nerve felt like it was on fire; Jito figured this was the phase of breaking down the patient's psyche before they were brainwashed.

He wasn't going to let that happen without a fight.

Everything is energy. What is will always be, and what is not will never be.

Within the machine he knew he had no physical body to form seals with, but for his technique there was no need. Some of the most advanced chakra techniques, particularly related to genjutsus went beyond such trivial matters.

Senju Hijutsu…Henkanomoi (Senju Hidden Technique, Mind Return)

Immediately upon activating his family's technique the pain disappeared and he felt his mind being brought out of the genjutsu. It was not a pleasant experience, and he found himself reminded of one of the last interactions he had with his father.

Just as he began to remember the incident he felt a surge of alien chakra run through his mind. Without him realising it, he was being drawn into another genjutsu.

oOoOoOo

Tobirama Senju deepened his frown, looking down at the young man kneeling before him.

Father? Why am I seeing this? Is this part of the genjutsu?

"Take off your mask, and report," said the Second Hokage in a controlled tone. There were dark rings under his eyes; the War had been taking a serious toll on him. And now this had happened. The past few years had not been easy for their village.

The ANBU shinobi in front of the Hokage slowly removed his mask, revealing a stern and experienced face with an x-shaped scar on his chin. "It isn't good news, Hokage-sama."

Is this…

Tobirama glared down at the ANBU shinobi angrily, "Tell me what has happened with my son."

Itachi must be a greater genjutsu user than I expected. To take me to this memory…

The ANBU's eyes twitched slightly in frustration at the Hokage's tone, but he relayed the story nonetheless. His mouth moved and despite not being there physically Jito knew what was being said before he heard it.

"We arrived at your son's complex just before dawn. There were several screams from within, so my unit entered the premises."

"Cut to the chase, Danzo."

I don't need to here this again…don't make me listen to this…

"We lost five men immediately when we got to the plaza. He was standing in the middle of the plaza, like he was waiting for us. There was a…I cannot even begin to describe what we saw…but it was clearly an illusion, one that we were only barely able to break out of because he let us."

Tobirama nodded without comment. For some reason there was a strange mark on the side of his face, one that Jito didn't recognise. The more he concentrated on it, the more it stood out, while the edges of the scene appeared to shake like a bad movie reel.

Still kneeling on the ground, Danzo continued his report. "When we moved to restrain him he didn't resist. However it was clear that it was already too late."

Normally a stoic man, Tobirama gave no clear indication of his distress at the news. But Jito knew his father very well, and the look in the Hokage's eyes was more painful than anything the previous experience had given him by a large margin.

"What about his wife and my grandson?" he asked quietly.

Danzo shook his head slowly, and the Hokage's muscles tightened up immediately. With a long drawn out breath he slowly turned around and glared at the window looking out over the village without saying a word.

"Sir? What are your orders?"

He should have killed me. I wouldn't have deserved such a reward, but he should have nonetheless.

Danzo couldn't see from where he was kneeling, but Jito could see the tightened fists in his father's arms. They almost tore through the skin on his arms even though he didn't have particularly sharp nails.

"Bring my son here."

The ANBU shinobi nodded with a quick salute and clicked loudly. Behind him the door opened and two shinobi wearing their customary masks shoved a youthful-looking Jito into the room.

It was strange seeing himself from so long ago, but it wasn't the most troubling thing as they shoved him down to the ground between Danzo and the Hokage's back.

"Leave us," said the Hokage sternly.

The two ANBU shinobi who brought him in nodded to his back and left the room, while Danzo slowly picked himself up from the ground and glared down at the young Senju shinobi in front of him.

The young Jito didn't say a word, and he still had the same lifeless look in his eyes that he'd had when they had 'captured' him.

Danzo nodded slightly to the Hokage's back and left the two Senju in the room.

Tobirama turned around and stared down at his last remaining heir. Jito didn't even seem conscious, judging by the dead look in his eyes he wasn't even aware of what was going on around him.

"You have truly fallen, Jito…"

Father…

The Second Hokage took two steps towards him and uncrossed his hands, though his expression wasn't what Jito remembered.

"…I do not blame you, son."

Now, I know that didn't happen. This is when I attacked my father. Perhaps Itachi isn't as good as he initially seemed.

Tobirama reached out and placed a hand on his son's white hair, closing his eyes slowly. "I know you want an end to this all, but we don't always get what we want. I'm sorry son, but this is not the end of your journey just yet."

I've seen more than enough. If this truly is a genjutsu, then it is a poor attempt. This isn't anything I haven't already told myself.

The moment he thought that, the memory playing in front of him froze. In an unnatural motion the Second Hokage's head snapped to stare off into a blank space in his office, exactly where Jito felt he was standing in.

Instead of his father's normal red eyes, he found himself being stared at by a pair of pure ice-blue eyes that were eerily familiar.

You won't be able to defeat me so easily, Uchiha. Now it's my turn.

He visualised his hands clapping together as he began to weave his own genjutsu. As a master of his craft, Jito watched as the scene slowly blurred to blackness before he began to push his way into his opposition's mindscape.

I've only just begun.


The newly opened room in front of Kakashi's group was horrifying to say the least. Even with his experiences at Sensou's torture, Lee had to look away while Kakashi and Konan moved in to make sure what they were seeing was actually real.

The room was tiny compared to other rooms in the complex. Kakashi estimated that you couldn't fit more than ten people in the room at once, and the reason why was clearly obvious.

The only object in the room was a single figure on the back wall, held up by hundreds of metal spikes. Konan and Lee didn't recognise the woman, though it was clear she had been there for some time judging by the muscle degeneration and the dried blood all over her pale skin.

Her mesh clothes were barely rags that didn't cover anything at all, and seemed to be purely for show.

Two large spikes had been shoved through her hands and she was held up by her feet as well. It was beyond anything any of them had seen, and that in itself made it even more horrifying.

Unlike his two companions however, Kakashi recognised the woman almost immediately. He moved instantly towards her and kneeled slightly so that he could confirm that it was who he thought it was.

She was unconscious, but seeing her face was enough evidence for Kakashi's blood to run cold.

"Do you recognise her?" asked Konan, noticing how unsettled her partner had suddenly become.

He nodded and reached out to slowly bring the woman's head up so that they could look at her face properly. Once her face was at their level her eyes shot open and she gave them the harshest glare of hatred they had ever felt, until she recognised the shinobi that had woke her up.

The woman was able to barely manage a slight smile as she looked at Kakashi through pupil-less eyes.

"Hn…so that's what you look like…under…that mask…"

Kakashi smirked sadly, "Looking good there, Anko."

Anko struggled to move her head slightly to look at Konan and Lee standing behind Kakashi, unsure what to make of the situation. "I guess…you guys…weren't…expecting to…see me?"

Kakashi shook his head grimly, "We thought you were dead with everyone else. How…how are you here? Didn't you die with Konoha?"

"Konoha? So…that wasn't just…a dream…" She seemed barely able to keep her eyes open, and with a quick check Kakashi could tell that she was barely hanging on to the slightest thread of life. Her breathing was unbelievably hoarse, and she struggled to bring out every word.

Despite that, she still had the same rough tone that Kakashi remembered.

"How...do I look?" asked Anko through pained breaths.

Kakashi grimaced, and she immediately noticed. She couldn't quite turn her head enough to look at her body, but judging from the fact that she could barely move she knew how bad it was.

"Who else..."

He thought about it for a moment, "Seventeen, not including you. We were still coming back from Suna when..."

Anko grinned, "Sounds about...right. At least...some survived..."

Lee walked out of the small room to keep watch over the corridor, while Konan stood by Kakashi's side. They didn't have much time, but from her estimation the Konoha shinobi wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"How many...weeks have...I been here?"

"Weeks?" Kakashi's eyes squinted when he realised that her sense of time must be way off. "Anko, it's been nearly four years."

"Four...years? That's...I guess she still...needed me."

Kakashi cocked his head slightly as he tried to look for a way to cut her down without killing her. From what he could see her muscles had atrophied so much that any form of exercise would be far too much for her.

"Needed? Anko...why are you here? What happened?"

The prisoner coughed violently, groaning loudly as her chest struggled with each breath. "I...was there...Kakashi. I...saw..."

"Save your strength, Anko. You can tell us later."

"The hell...I can. Before I...sleep again...you have to...listen..."


***Flashback*** Pre-Destruction Konoha

"Hmm…I think I need to get more dango."

Anko dropped her last empty dango stick into the open drawer at her desk, letting it bounce on the hundreds of others within before she shut it with a satisfying thump.

The young Tokubetsu-Jounin hopped off her desk and wandered over to her wardrobe, throwing her mesh shirt over her bra before looking at her small collection of clothes. She had no missions today, though that wasn't uncommon for her. She generally had other things to do beyond her duties in missions.

Anko pulled on her overcoat as she completed her regular shinobi outfit, figuring she would be able to pester the dango salesman for a few hours before going to the bar. As she fastened her forehead protector on her head she flinched slightly before a grin grew over her face.

"Not bad. I didn't hear a thing," she said, turning around slowly.

Standing in the middle of her small apartment was a woman dressed in a dark red robe, with red hair and a strange pair of ice-blue eyes. She wasn't anyone that Anko recognised, and judging by how she had gotten past all of Anko's chakra traps she would have to be an enemy of significant ability.

Anko found herself licking her lips in amusement; she could feel her blood pumping in anticipation.

The red woman didn't move an inch as Anko slowly walked to a position to stand against her.

"Are you an agent of Orochimaru?" asked the Konoha shinobi, always weary that her old teacher was still out there for her to take down.

The red woman smiled slowly, setting the hair on Anko's neck straight up. It was scarier than the last time she had seen Orochimaru, and that was something she still had nightmares about.

She seemed to be looking Anko up and down, examining her for something she couldn't quite pick; until she saw the woman's eyes rest on the patch of her neck that had caused her so much trouble in her life.

Disliking where this might be moving towards, Anko brought up a covered arm and pointed it to the intruder.

"Sen'eijashu!" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

Four snakes shot out from her coat sleeve towards the red woman, but barely after covering a few metres they disappeared into puffs of smoke, the technique having been negated completely.

The red woman barely noticed the attack and took a step towards her, slowly rising one of her arms.

Anko bit at her lip and reached into one of her pockets, "Well if that doesn't work…"

She withdrew a cluster of kunai and tossed them up into the air before clapping her hands together. The kunai floated for a second before aiming themselves at the intruder. With a push of chakra behind them, Anko sent the kunai flying towards her opponents, each aiming at vital spots and openings.

Initially the red woman appeared disinterested in the attack, but when she realised how close the kunai were to her, her demeanour changed instantly.

She pulled her hands across her front as a long blade of metal appeared out of thin air, spinning rapidly in front of her to parry each of the kunai before they could strike at her. The projectiles fell to the ground and dug into Anko's apartment's floor, with small puddles of purple liquid slowly seeping out of the ends.

Twitching her eyes slightly, the red woman looked down at the weapons for a moment before turning her scary gaze back to Anko. "You are indeed the specimen I have been seeking."

"Screw you," said the Tokubetsu-Jounin, already running through a sequence of handseals.

The intruder rolled her eyes and took several steps towards Anko, her boots barely making a sound on the wooden floor.

Anko finished the sequence and went to activate her technique, but she found her chakra unresponsive as the red woman was so close to her. As usual when she tried to use a technique without any normal chakra, her Cursed Seal flared up on her neck and tried to spread over her body.

She dropped to her knees with a cry of pain and clutched at her neck, while the intruder seemed content to watch as the black marks threatened to spread from the tomoe marks over her neck and down her front.

"What did you do to me?" spat Anko, trying to hold back the Cursed Seal with all of her willpower.

"Fascinating. It appears to be resisting. This warrants further examination."

The red woman bore down on top of Anko and put her hands to either side of her body.

Using what strength she could muster without letting the Cursed Seal take her over, Anko looked up to the woman who had so easily defeated her and grinned wildly.

"Go to hell." With that, she spat in the woman's face.

The red woman's face twitched as the spit slowly trickled down her face. Her hands fluctuated slightly before an angry frown grew on her face. She took a step back and spread out her fingers so that they were indicating to different parts of Anko's kneeling form.

oOoOoOo

"You're late."

Sensou rolled her eyes as she made her way up the hill. Thrown over her shoulder was the barely conscious body of Anko, with hundreds of puncture wounds all over her body, leaving a long trail of blood from where she had been taken.

Her apartment was a short distance from the main part of the village, and the Quiraji leader had met with no resistance as she had simply walked out of Konoha with Anko on her shoulder.

Standing at the top of the hill was a strange group of three figures, each feeling as dreadful as Sensou did to Anko's barely conscious perception.

The one who had spoken indicated to Sensou's prisoner with a wrinkled finger, "What is that, little sister? We were given strict orders."

Sensou dumped Anko unceremoniously onto the slightly damp grass before slamming a metal spike into her legs to keep her from crawling away. "I found something interesting. Even he would be remise in ignoring it."

"Then why is she nearly dead? I can barely sense any life in her at all. She'd barely make a decent meal at this rate."

"She spat on me. I had to exert my fury somehow."

"Enough squabbling," said a figure wearing white armour. He indicated to the village in front of them with a large gauntlet, "We have a job to do."

"We, don't have to do anything," said Sensou, glancing over at their fourth member with a suspicious gaze. "Isn't that right…'sister'?"

The woman in the black robe made no remark back; in fact Anko couldn't feel anything from her whatsoever. Her sight was blurred and sketchy, but she saw the woman walk away from the group slowly down the hill towards Konoha a short distance away.

For some reason, Anko couldn't shake the feeling that she would never see the village again, so she wanted to get as good a look as possible.

"I don't like this," said Shouri, his gauntleted hands on his hips. "This isn't any form of conquest I would do."

Beside him the other leaders of the Quiraji watched as their fourth walked into the same entrance that Anko had been taken out of.

Sensou sighed and kicked a small rock down the hill, "As much as it pains me, I have to agree with him. Why does Shikyo have to do this? We could take this village easily."

"No, we couldn't," replied Shouri. He indicated to the walls around Konoha, "They are the biggest power in the shinobi world. If we were to attack traditionally they would turn it into a war of attrition, and while we would eventually win we would be weakened for the other shinobi forces. Not only that, but their walls are high and they have many escape tunnels."

Sensou eyed him suspiciously, but conceded that his military expertise exceeded hers. "Still feels like a waste. The amount of opportunity that exists here is immense."

"Even so, orders are orders," said Kyoukou. "We are only soldiers after all."

Both Sensou and Shouri scoffed at the notion.

"Speak for yourself," said the white-armoured warrior.

Unable to move, Anko watched as the three of them stopped talking and looked over at Konoha. She couldn't see anything besides a large blur, but something in her bones told her something was wrong.

"Watch this carefully," said the old man in the group. "This is where our revenge begins."

Anko stared at her village, feeling a terrible sense of foreboding at what was about to happen.

One moment Konoha stood perfectly still, its occupants going about their businesses like normal.

The outsides of the village shuddered for a second before they began to collapse in on themselves. Buildings folded in on themselves and were hurled through the air, as the people were drawn to a single point in the middle of the village. The great gates at the front of the village shuddered for a moment before splintering into thousands of pieces, with some scattering away from the central point but the majority flying towards the centre like the rest of the village. At the back of the village the Hokage monuments began to collapse downwards, though they seemed to resist the pull that was destroying the rest of the shinobi village.

As the buildings and people of Konoha flew towards the central point of the village they collapsed inwards and disappeared into thin air.

In barely a minute, all of Konoha had been drawn into a single point, and disappeared in a flash.

All that remained was the woman in the black robe that Anko had seen earlier standing in the centre of the now devastated village, slowly closing her eyes and lowering her hands.

No…it has to be an illusion…that couldn't…

"Well, I don't like her methods, but I can't argue with her results." Shouri sighed and flexed one of his arms slowly. "Why did we even come here, if she was going to take all the fun?"

Sensou nodded before reaching down and picking up Anko like a ragdoll, throwing her over her shoulder. "You'd have to ask him about that. I've always felt uncomfortable around her anyway."

Kyoukou watched as their older sister slowly walked back from the crater of Konoha back to their position. "She has her purpose, as do we all. She's been with him the longest, you both know that."

"I still find it hard to see her as a relative though. Nobody should be that powerful. It's just creepy."

Anko could feel her consciousness slipping away, but she still refused to believe what she saw was real.

After all, there had been no resistance.

Nor any screams.

There was only…silence.

***End Flashback***


Jito blinked and found himself in a very different scene than the one before. The Hokage's office was nowhere to be seen; instead Jito found himself staring at a complex he was quite familiar with. He knew that he was currently intangible as a young boy ran through his body, laughing carelessly with a large group of similarly dressed children.

Despite knowing it was an illusion, Jito found himself smiling at their innocence, particularly in a place like this. The buildings around him wore the fan symbol proudly as they used to, with Jito judging that he had succeeded in penetrating through to Itachi's mind.

Now where are you, Uchiha? Where have you taken me?

"Is Onii-san here yet?"

Jito frowned as he recognised the voice, turning within his spiritual form to see his most recent companion come running out of a nearby building, looking several years younger than he currently. Uchiha Sasuke appeared quite different by Jito's observation, he still wore similar Uchiha attire that he did now, but his face was completely different.

He was smiling.

"Patience is a virtue, Sasuke. Perhaps you will learn that one day," came an older voice, one that Jito was also quite familiar with.

From the house Sasuke had come from stepped out the old clan leader, still looking the same as he had all those years ago. Unlike Sasuke's slight change, Uchiha Fugaku still held the same angry stoic stare that he always had, though it seemed slightly softened when he looked at his youngest son.

"But it's an important day, Father," said Sasuke as he turned to face his father. "He should be here by now."

Fugaku shook his head and turned to face a figure standing just out of Jito's view. "You talk to the boy, Mikoto. You've more experience in this area than I."

Did Fugaku just admit to not knowing something? This is really different from how I knew him.

As Jito suspected when he had seen Fugaku, the figure emerged from the house wearing the same housewife outfit she had been killed in, wiping her hands on a handtowel.

"Let the boy have his fun, Fugaku. He's right; it is an important day for our family."

"Hn," was all the Uchiha clan leader said, turning on his heels to walk back into their house.

Mikoto and Sasuke watched him disappear before turning and smiling at each other like only a mother and son could.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Mikoto appeared to not have eyes in her head. It only lasted for a second before they returned to normal, but that image was going to be burned into Jito's mind for a while.

This illusion must be unstable. He probably knows I'm here.

Mikoto smiled down at her son, who didn't seem to have noticed the split-second oddity. "Why don't you go and find your brother, Sasuke? I'll help your father heat up some water."

The fifteen year-old Sasuke nodded and turned to look down the road, "I'll drag him here by his ears if I need to."

Mikoto chuckled lightly, sending spikes of pain into Jito's heart as he remembered how infrequently she used to do that. "That'll be a spectacle. A Genin dragging the head of the ANBU back home."

Even with his back turned to his mother, Sasuke still grimaced at being reminded of his position. "I told you, I'm only a Genin because I offered to help Sakura and Naruto get to Chuunin."

Mikoto laughed again as Sasuke stormed off to find his brother, before turning to return back inside the house. As he watched her back, Jito frowned when he saw small pools of blood forming underneath her feet, with a long line appearing on the back of her neck.

Instinctively he turned away from her, not wanting to see where the irregularity was going to end up.

I think my memories are clouding the illusion. I should follow the boy.

oOoOoOo

In his corporeal form it was easy enough to follow the slightly younger Sasuke through the Uchiha compound. It was strange to see how little it had changed from the last time Jito had seen it, though it was nice to the area not covered in bodies.

This must be how Sensou is keeping Itachi in line. She forces him to create his ideal world and he would have no intention to leave it. I'm surprised she didn't try that with me, it probably would have worked. Perhaps she hadn't developed a machine like this yet.

He watched as Sasuke tapped on a wooden door, seemingly dancing impatiently on the edges of his feet. "Come on…come on…"

After a few seconds the door opened slowly and a surprised looking Itachi stood in the doorway, giving his younger brother a curious look.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

The younger Uchiha paid his brother no heed as he rushed past him, "Never mind that, nii-san!"

Jito chuckled at the scene of Sasuke rushing to the bathroom, but stopped himself when he saw Itachi staring straight at where he was floating. Judging from his dark gaze Jito knew that he couldn't quite see him yet; though he couldn't be sure whether it was the real Itachi or just a representation of him.

After a few seconds Itachi appeared to have figured that it was just his imagination and turned back to go back inside his house.

Jito figured he had brought here for a reason after activating his own genjutsu to invade Itachi's chakra, so he floated through one of the walls and into the house.

Itachi's house was surprisingly well kept from Jito's perspective. It was a reasonably sized household with proper furnishings and tatami mats, and he could feel how nice a home it was.

If I had something like this…I don't know if I could wrench myself from it either. The Uchiha and I have more in common than I thought.

"Who was that?" said a female voice from another room, one that sounded rather soft compared to the other Uchiha voices he'd heard so far.

Jito drifted to where he heard the voice, keeping his wits about him as he tried to ignore the black spots that had begun appearing on the walls around him.

"It was just my little brother," said Itachi who had just walked into the room. "Knowing him he's probably just being impatient."

The woman Itachi was talking to was very pretty by Jito's standards. She had long wavy blonde hair and a pair of light brown eyes that seemed to simply exude innocence. It was also obvious to him that she was heavily pregnant judging from her expanded stomach and loose-fitting clothing.

"You should be kinder to your brother, Chi. He means well."

Itachi smiled at the woman affectionately, walking over to her and offering her his hand, "And you should be taking it easy, Kanako. You are still walking for two for at least a little bit longer."

Kanako? Isn't that what Ishi was going to name his daughter?

The pregnant girl sighed and patted at Itachi's hand with a tired smile, "The sooner the better. My feet are killing me. Your son is a cruel child."

With a chuckle, Itachi helped her onto a nearby seat. "Well the Uchiha are known for being harsh."

"I thought we were past the whole clan business, Chi." Kanako sighed and patted her stomach, "I think it's almost time for me to not be pregnant for a while."

From a nearby doorway Sasuke walked into the room with his hands in his pockets, breathing out a long sigh of relief. "Ah, so much better."

"Aren't you normally the serious brooding one of the family?" asked Itachi with a smirk.

Sasuke shrugged and leant on the doorframe, "When you've got to go, you've got to go."

I should find a way to break this illusion down. If I can bring him out of this, perhaps that will disconnect him from the machine.

He set about examining his surroundings, trying to see if there were any inconsistencies he could exploit. When building a world within a genjutsu the foundations are vital. If the target discovers that they are in an illusion then the genjutsu begins to break down.

"Are you guys ready to go yet or what?"

"Be patient, Sasuke. Having a baby isn't like activating a jutsu." Kanako looked out over at a nearby window, where Jito was observing from. Her brown eyes seemed oddly familiar to him, until it occurred to him to check her chakra.

Jito's eyes widened as he recognised a similarity in her chakra signals, though it was fairly weak from her even in the illusion.

She's is a Senju? Mikoto never mentioned that her son was together with a Senju girl. Is this only part of the illusion, or was he truly with a girl from our clan?

He watched as Itachi berated his younger brother for acting like that in front of his wife, while Kanako laughed softly at the two brothers arguing. It was still an illusion but it felt realer than anything he had experienced in a long time.

If she was killed…that would explain Itachi's actions that night. Attacking his father…and the rest of the clan…Damnit, I'm getting sucked into the illusion.

Deciding to no longer stay a mere observer, Jito put his corporeal hands together and began working his chakra through the illusion Itachi had created for himself.

The walls of the room were ripped out from the ground in a single motion, leaving the occupants in a house exposed to the elements outside. None of them seemed to have noticed how he'd changed the illusion, and despite the wind now blowing on their bodies they continued having their conversation like nothing had happened.

Itachi gave his wife a light kiss on her forehead and stood where there had just been a wall, "I'm going to get Shio, and then we'll get going, okay?"

"Thanks, Chi," said Kanako with a smile.

"Yes, go about doing that, 'Chi'," said Sasuke with a wide smirk on his face.

Okay, so that clearly wasn't enough. What will I have to do to break this illusion?

He looked around the environment, noticing that the house was trying to reconstruct itself from the ground upwards. The old Senju warrior frowned and motioned to the front door of the house. With a small amount of chakra he summoned a manifestation of Fugaku at the door, one of the few things that had survived him ripping the walls off of the house.

"Itachi! We must have words!" Fugaku's voice cut through the wind and caused each of the occupants to turn and look at his angry face.

From the main living room Sasuke frowned and made his way to the front, while Itachi approached from the other side with a small girl in his arms. They both appeared surprised at their father's presence, though not enough that it didn't appear happen every so often.

"What is it, Father?" asked Itachi, softly bouncing the baby in his arms like a caring father. "Is Mother here as well?"

"Never mind her," said Fugaku, his arms crossed over his chest. "I must speak to you about that matter I've just been informed about."

"Is something wrong?" asked Sasuke, wary of how heated the debates between his father and his older brother could get.

Itachi and his father glared at each other for a moment before Itachi turned to his brother and slowly handed him the baby girl who Jito figured must be Itachi's daughter. "Take Shio to Kanako, brother."

Sasuke took his niece with a confused look on his face, "Nii-san?"

"Just go, Sasuke. This is between me and our father."

Even with the house walls thrown away, Sasuke walked through the house and joined Kanako in another room, while Itachi stared at his father angrily.

"You refused the Hokage's request again?" It wasn't a question, that much Jito could tell from Fugaku's tone. He may have created the manifestation of the Uchiha clan head, but Itachi was filling the illusion with his own memories and experiences. If it worked the way he wanted it to, Itachi would realise that it was an illusion eventually.

Itachi clenched his fists as he glared at his father in the doorway, "Now is not the time, Father. Kanako is about to go into labour. I would think you would be happy to be getting a grandson."

The head of the clan pushed his way through his elder son to go into Itachi's work room, "While you may be able to push your feelings to the forefront for your wife and your brother, you have a duty to the Uchiha clan, Itachi. You cannot ignore us."

"I told the Hokage that I wasn't interested. I have more important things to do here, at home."

Fugaku snarled and slammed a fist into a non-existent wall. To amplify the effect Jito caused a shockwave to run through the house, forcing Itachi to waver on his feet momentarily.

"Nothing is more important than the Third Hokage's offer! Now is the time for an Uchiha to take up the mantle of Hokage!"

Itachi steadied himself and activated his Sharingan, "You do not dictate what I can and cannot do with my existence, Father. I will not become the Fifth Hokage just to settle your petty dispute with my wife's clan. I am satisfied with my life as it is now."

"Petty?!" Fugaku moved over to stand in front of his older son and picked him up by the scruff of his shirt, "Your ancestors died fighting the Senju, and you will show some damn respect!"

I knew Fugaku was a bastard, but how little did Itachi think of his Father to portray him like this? I can definitely use this.

Jito manipulated the illusion manually and forced the manifestation of Fugaku to drive a fist into Itachi's stomach, causing him to fall to the ground with a loud cough as the wind left his chest.

"My two sons, such a disappointment. You were to be Hokage, and your younger brother was to be the clan head. Clearly I expected too much for boys like you."

He kicked at Itachi fiercely, breaking a chair as the Uchiha shinobi was sent flying across the room. "Marrying the Senju whore, and now this. You are nothing but…"

"Enough of this charade."

Jito frowned and turned in an attempt to find the distorted voice. The illusion in front of him had frozen as Itachi had been picking himself up from the ground and wiping blood from his mouth, while Fugaku seemed ready to launch into another tirade of abuse.

So he's become aware of my presence. Good. Maybe now we can fight like real genjutsu users.

Slowly a stream of black flames emerged underneath Jito's corporeal legs. He took no notice as the black flames crept up his legs and spread to his body, threatening to burn him to nothingness.

"That won't work, Itachi. This is now my illusion, not yours," said Jito, not feeling anything from the flames over his body.

A crow flew into the house through the opening Jito had created, sitting on top of the manifestation of Itachi's shoulder. The red eye on the crow stared at Jito ominously.

Jito frowned and waved one of his arms, forcing the black flames to disappear from his body. "You should give up, Itachi. You won't beat with genjutsu. I've been doing this since before you were born."

"What is your purpose here?" came the same voice as before. Jito could have sworn it was coming from the crow, but he was hearing it from every direction like a strange echo.

Jito looked around the ruined house at the frozen illusion. In the main living room Sasuke was cradling the little baby girl in his arms affectionately, while Itachi's Senju wife seemed to be in the middle of a nap.

"I'm here to take you out of this place. You are killing shinobi by staying here."

The moment Jito said that the illusion of the Uchiha complex disappeared into a dark black background. The Senju shinobi frowned as he felt his senses spiking with false information. His body was fighting off an attempt to place him in an illusion, while simultaneously breaking down Jito's own illusions that he had used on Itachi.

The pain shooting through his nerves ceased once he flushed out the invading chakra and centred himself again.

"You'll have to try much harder than that, Itachi. I'm not going away that easily."

He blinked and felt a shiver run up his spine as he saw a gigantic red eye staring at him from the darkness. He tried to move around it but it followed him and continued to stare straight into his red eyes.

The Sharingan began to spin before quickly turning into a strange pinwheel shape, one that looked quite similar to the one Mikoto had.

Tsukuyomi again? He is quite the single trick pony.

The Mangekyou Sharingan stopped spinning and Jito in turn activated his own technique to counter the powerful genjutsu.

"It won't be that easy…" said Jito through gritted teeth. It was harder than he had thought to defeat Tsukuyomi so many times, but he knew Itachi had to be getting drained by the experience too.

"Don't be so cocky. This is far from over."


Jito blinked again and found himself floating in a pure white environment, with an image of Itachi floating several feet away from him.

The Itachi in front of him looked far less debilitated than he was inside the machine, though Jito figured this was Itachi's personal perception of himself. He still wore his Akatsuki robe and slashed Konoha forehead protector as he stared at Jito through his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Jito cracked his neck slightly, fluctuating his chakra within his system so that it was almost impossible to attack him directly with genjutsu.

Itachi's eyes wavered for a moment, and Jito looked down to find a long sword sticking out of his chest.

There was no pain; Jito hadn't even noticed the attack. It was impressive, though it wasn't nearly powerful enough to injure him.

He reached up and touched the hilt of the sword, causing it to turn into a cloud of butterflies that flew away from the two of them harmlessly. Jito looked back over at Itachi with a frown, as if baiting him to try again.

Itachi cocked his head slightly, as if trying to understand why his attack hadn't worked. In that moment, two massive slabs of rock appeared on either side of him and slammed together, crushing him in between.

"I know that wasn't enough to take you down, Itachi. Why don't you drop the charade and fight me properly?"

The slabs of rock disappeared into the white background, and as Jito suspected there was no trace of Itachi within.

He spun around and put up a hand, catching a thrown fist by Itachi from behind him. He held the Uchiha's fist tightly, staring straight into his opponent's Sharingan.

"Why are you here?" asked Itachi again, his voice sounding almost desperate.

"I'm here to take you home."

Itachi's eyes twitched and he pulled back his other fist, "This is my home. You have no right to try and destroy it."

Jito put up his other hand and created a chain to hold back Itachi's fist, "This isn't real, Itachi. You know that. These people...these environments, they aren't real."

Shrugging off his grip on his other hand, Itachi clutched at the chain holding him back, "How do you know what is real, and what is not? I am happy here, why can't you leave it at that?"

Jito pulled back a hand and created a large spear that he buried into Itachi's chest with a satisfying thump, "Because you can't stay here forever. I know how hard it is to tear yourself away from your memories, but you've got to try."

Pulling the spear out from his chest, Itachi tossed it aside and clapped his hands together. His hair flared up slightly as he moulded massive amounts of chakra.

"You know nothing of my sorrows! Get out of my head!"

Itachi began to grow in size as the scene around the two of them shifted to one of his own making. In response to the Uchiha's illusion, Jito activated his own technique and matched Itachi's size.

Beneath the two of them emerged a small city that they both easily dwarfed, and while they were continuing to expand upwards Jito marvelled at the level of detail in the city underneath their feet. He wasn't sure why it had occurred, but it felt oddly appropriate.

When two genjutsu users fight against each other there is usually some backlash within the illusions, but he hadn't seen anything like this for decades. Beyond the 'skyscrapers' that came up to their knees and expansive docks that connected to the seas, there appeared to be tiny people going about their lives in a strange manner he hadn't seen in his many years as a shinobi.

He turned to Itachi as the two of them stopped growing, with each of them towering over the city below them. Jito had his hands clutched together in a handseal, a large collection of ancient swords floating around his head, while his opponent appeared completely relaxed, his hands hidden within his robe.

For a few moments nothing happened, both of them waiting for the other to make the first move.

I can't kill him, that would defeat the purpose of my coming here. He needs to realise why he needs to come back, and break himself out of the illusions placed on him.

Jito reached up and grasped one of the swords, holding it in front of him idly. He wasn't a particularly good kenjutsu fighter in reality, but in genjutsu he was akin to a God. It was one of the perks of his inherent abilities.

In a fluid motion he flipped in the air and kicked one of the swords around his head at Itachi before charged at him, each footstep crushing dozens of buildings beneath him.

The first sword bounced harmlessly off Itachi's front and buried itself into the ground nearby, skewering a carriage with the people inside. The Uchiha shinobi watched as Jito charged towards him, barely even noticing as Jito leapt up to slice through his head.

The Senju's sword bounced off as easily as the first one, though Jito was quick to jump back when he saw what was blocking his attacks. His feet skidded along the cityscape, destroying everything in their path as he got rid of the swords around him.

Surrounding Itachi was a glowing red ribcage, one that appeared to grow around Itachi to cover him completely. The barrier grew into a humanoid figure that towered over Itachi, forming a large shield in one hand with something resembling a sake bottle on the other side.

Despite the illusion, a shiver ran up Jito's spine for what felt like the third time since entering the machine.

This is what Father once spoke of...Susanoo...the ultimate defence…

The humanoid figure protecting Itachi reached over the sake bottle and appeared to pull out a sword covered in flames, one that felt it like it was burning up the very air it occupied.

Jito frowned when he saw Itachi's Susanoo hold the flaming sword down towards the ground. Its edge barely touched one of the small buildings, yet it set the entire complex on fire in an instant.

That isn't part of the illusion. That's part of his power...to manifest it here…amazing.

"Come, Senju. Fall upon my blade, so that I can return to my family."

Itachi swung his Susanoo's sword at Jito in a single motion of his hand, forcing the Senju to leap back to avoid the long-ranged strike. From within the illusion it was difficult to see, but Jito could have sworn the flaming sword had extended beyond its original range to try and hit him.

He's finally fighting seriously. To use Susanoo to this extent...if that hits me I'm gone...even here in the illusion.

Jito could feel Itachi's power washing over him, threatening to overtake him in strength and throw him into an endless illusion that he wouldn't be able to escape.

Seeing no other option, Jito sped through a long set of handseals while simultaneously doing his best to avoid the deadly sword of Itachi's Susanoo.

I have no other option. He's stronger in here than I anticipated.

He clapped his hands together before facing them towards Itachi's position, "Magen: Narakujitsuzai."

The moment he activated the technique the entire environment disappeared, leaving Itachi on his own within the white background they had occupied before.

The Uchiha shinobi frowned and cancelled his Susanoo, wondering what had been able to break through his Mangekyou Sharingan's constant Tsukuyomi so easily.

As he was running through the possibilities, a young woman appeared in front of him, holding her hands on her hips in a rather uncharacteristic manner. Beside her appeared Itachi's younger brother, with the same expression he had last given Itachi before he had been knocked out by Kidomaru.

"What are you doing, Nii-san?" asked the manifestation of Sasuke.

Itachi frowned and tried to wave away the image of Sasuke, but it stubbornly persisted. He turned to look at Kanako with a desperate expression, "I had to stay, Kanako. You know I how hard it was since you died…"

"I'm gone, Chi. You know that. You accepted that fact years ago." Kanako's voice was still the same quiet tone it had been earlier, but her words cut through Itachi better than any weapon could. "Let me go, Chi."

The elder Uchiha wanted to reach out and touch her face again, but before he could she disappeared into thin air, leaving a light breeze that moved past his face before disappearing completely.

Itachi clutched at his chest painfully and dropped to his knees, feeling the crushing weight of losing here again. He heard a strange scoff from above him, and before he knew it the manifestation of Sasuke had kicked him square in the face, sending him flying backwards.

"I'm disappointed in you, Itachi," he said angrily. "To have fallen so far..."

"You have no idea what you are talking about, Sasuke," said Itachi, picking himself up. "What would you know about love?"

"I know enough not to kill my own kind." Sasuke crossed his arms and glared at his brother.

Itachi flicked the edges of his Akatsuki robe and clenched his fists, "You, who never had someone so dear to you, would never understand my pain!"

"I HAD YOU!" Sasuke leapt forward and drove a fist into Itachi's chest, driving the wind out of his lungs. "I'm still out there, and you dare speak to me of not understanding? I'm the family you have left!"

Itachi slowly brought up his head to look at his brother's angry Sharingan. He clutched at his chest again, though this time there was a different pain.

"I…failed again…didn't I?"

"You still have time to save him, Itachi."

The Uchiha shinobi looked up again to find his brother gone, and a familiar looking Senju shinobi was standing over him.

"Your brother is alive and well, Itachi. He's here, trying to save you."

"Sasuke…he came for me…?"

Jito nodded and offered a hand to his opponent. As they grasped hands he transferred a massive burst of chakra through to him, finally breaking down the last illusion that had been keeping Itachi prisoner.

"It's time for you to return home, Itachi. Your time isn't over yet."

Itachi took a moment to collect himself before taking a long breath and standing up with his help. He straightened out his robe and deactivated his Mangekyou Sharingan. "You are…Jito, correct? The one that used to work with Kakashi?"

"Kakashi was right, you did retain his memories. Yes, and I'm here to take you out of the machine."

Itachi took a glance at their surroundings, noticing that the white background appeared to be falling apart. "I don't know if I have the strength to survive the transition back to reality. When I was brought into here, it nearly killed me. I won't have the chakra."

Jito considering it for a moment before clapping his hands together and placing a hand over Itachi's face. "I refuse to let that happen."

"What are you doing?" asked Itachi, surprised by the older shinobi's action. Just moments ago he had come very close to sealing the old shinobi within his Susanoo, yet here he was willing to risk his life to bring him back.

Jito grinned slowly, something he had taken from his grandniece. "You have Kakashi's memories, so you know my story. Moreover you saw it in here. I may not have done much good in my life, but taking you out of here might make up for some of my past mistakes."

Itachi felt Jito's chakra transferring to him, even within their illusionary world he felt like he was becoming more like himself again. "You'll die…you know that."

"The time of the Senju has passed. The time of our clans, really. When you meet a woman called Fiore and her mother Elika, please tell them…" He hesitated for a moment, unsure what he would actually want to say.

"Jito? What do you want me to say to them?"

The old Senju shinobi thought about it before letting out a tired chuckle, "I can't think of anything. I guess someone like me doesn't have any last words."

He completed the transfer and stood back from Itachi. "But as a last act…this isn't bad."

"Thank you, Jito. I don't know how I'll ever repay what you've done in here."

The two of them both put up their hands to form their own handseals.

"Kai!"

"Kai!"


The machine sizzled for a few moments before the glass in front of Itachi slowly opened upwards, much to the surprise of Sasuke and Fiore. They had been waiting patiently since Jito had entered the machine, and their faces lit up when they saw that he had been successful.

Sasuke immediately dashed forward to grab Itachi as he fell out of the machine, catching him lightly on his shoulder.

"Is he okay?" asked Fiore, making her way around to see if Jito was also coming out.

Sasuke carefully laid Itachi down onto the ground and put his head to his chest. "He's still breathing, so I think he is okay. He's very low on chakra though, we'll need to get him out of here quickly."

He popped up his head, "How is our fearless leader?"

His happy expression dropped when he saw Fiore slowly making her way back around, shaking her head. "No good?" he asked, not particularly wanting to be correct.

"I…" Fiore frowned, unsure of how she felt. "He's dead. I can't explain it, but he's gone."

Sasuke nodded slowly, "I understand. He did his duty, far more than either of us expected. We can't fault him for that."

"Yes…but the Senju…"

Her partner carefully slung his brother over his shoulder before placing a hand on her arm, "Fiore, we have to get out of here. Jito wouldn't want his sacrifice to be in vain."

She nodded grimly, she didn't like it but they had no choice. The likelihood of them being discovered was quite high since they had shut down the machine, though she hated leaving Jito inside it. She didn't like the Senju, but that didn't mean she wanted him to die.

You broke your promise, Jito. Don't think I'll forgive you any time soon.

The two of them came back into the main floor where she had fought Kyoukou, with the room illuminating a path through the bodies.

"Where are we going to go?" asked Fiore quietly.

Heaving Itachi on his shoulder and noting that his brother was lighter than he thought he would be, her partner squinted before making an executive decision. "We'll need help getting out of here. Let's go."


"Hard to believe, isn't it?" said Anko, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Kakashi shook his head slowly, "No, I can believe it." He didn't mean to sound so cynical, but it had been a possibility on his mind since he'd discovered their destroyed village.

"We've met the woman who destroyed your village before," said Konan behind him. "She did a similar thing to Amegakure, though I now think she took it easy on us. How powerful are these people that they can do things like that on a whim?"

"These bastards are…" Anko struggled for a moment before coughing blood down her front again. The group didn't know why she was reacting so badly to being conscious, though a quick glance at her restraints showed that she was probably rarely conscious throughout her imprisonment.

"Anko…"

"Shut it…Kakashi. I haven't got…much time…" She tried to pull herself up on her restraints, as if the tiny resistance was enough to sustain her. "Hehe…there isn't a way to…get me down…from here…is there?"

All Kakashi could do was shake his head. As much as he didn't want to see another comrade from Konoha die, he knew that he was not going to let her stay a prisoner in this kind of a place.

Anko swore under her breath and tried to wrench herself out of her restraints, to no effect. "I…can't die…here. There…is still…Orochi…maru…"

Kakashi leaned over and placed his hands on Anko's withered shoulders, "You don't need to…"

"Oi! Kakashi!"

Their group turned around to see Sasuke and Fiore running towards them, with Itachi slung over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke? What is it? Why are you here?" Kakashi's eyes frowned when he saw how the two of them looked. "Is that Itachi?!"

"We shut down the machine converting shinobi," said Fiore quickly. "We should get out of here as quickly as possible."

"Who is that?" asked Sasuke, having noticed Anko hanging off of the wall.

From his position in the corridor, Lee came up to Sasuke and Fiore with a wide frown on his face, "Where is Jito? Is he right behind you?"

Both Sasuke and Fiore's eyes sank at the mention of their previous leader. The other members of the group noticed this immediately, while Lee clutched his fists angrily.

"What happened to him?" he asked.

Sasuke indicated to his older brother sitting on his shoulder, still unconscious with no indication of what was wrong with him. "In order to destroy the machine, and get Itachi out of there, Jito…he…didn't make it…"

Lee stared at Sasuke for a few moments, as if not wanting to believe that the Uchiha was telling the truth. The Uchiha gave little information away to him, but a quick glance at Fiore told him all he needed to know. He gave Sasuke a glare again for a moment before disappearing.

Only Fiore seemed surprised at Lee's disappearance, "Where did he go?"

Sasuke shook his head at her, "Leave him be, Fiore. He has his own things to do here."

He turned to Kakashi again, who hadn't made a comment about Itachi's presence, "We need to leave, Kakashi. The enemy knew we were coming. There is nothing else here for us."

Anko chuckled painfully from the wall, staring at Sasuke through pained eyes, "You've got…a good…attitude kid."

The new leader of the group nodded with resignation, if Jito's group had succeeded, then this was the only thing left for them to be concerned about. "What are we going to do about Anko? I don't want to just leave her here."

"Don't…talk about me…like I'm…not here." Anko coughed violently and breathed out heavily through her teeth. "I can't…die here. Orochimaru…my duty…"

"Orochimaru is dead, Anko," said Kakashi quickly, having wanted to tell her before Sasuke had arrived. "He was killed nearly a week after Konoha was destroyed by his teammate Jiraiya."

The purple haired shinobi stared at him as if unable to believe him, but the look in his dark eyes was enough for her to understand what had happened. "I…see…"

For almost a minute no one said anything, before Anko finally took a long breath and stared back up at Kakashi.

"Go…Kakashi. I'll…take this…place out."

Besides their leader, Konan crossed her arms with a suspicious look, "You can't even mould chakra. We aren't going to leave you here to rot."

"That's a…nice sentiment…cheerleader…" said Anko with a bloody grin. She turned back to Kakashi, "Go…I've…got one more…thing I need…to do…"

He considered it for a moment before nodding grimly. He turned to rest of the group and indicated that they were going to leave, instructing Konan to take the others out the front. The three of them seemed hesitant, but moved out regardless, leaving Kakashi with Anko in the small room.

"Is there anything you need me to do before I go?" asked Kakashi, unsure as to how she was going to destroy such a facility in her state.

Anko struggled to indicate to her restrained hands with her head. "Take those spikes…out, and I'll…take care of…it."

The Konoha Jounin quickly went about pulling out the spikes from her hands, trying his best not to hurt her anymore than she already had been. Barely a minute later her arms hung uselessly at her sides, while the spikes in her body and legs kept her restrained on the wall.

Even without his Sharingan, Kakashi could tell she didn't have much life left in her. "Anko…"

"Five…minutes…Kakashi. Get as…far away…as possible…"

Unable to do anything else, Kakashi gave her a quick salute and took a step back, "We won't forget you, Anko. We'll get the bastards for this."

"Shove the…sentiment, Kakashi. Just…go…"

He nodded and gave her a final smile before going back into the corridor and running back to the staircase to go back downstairs. He wasn't sure where Lee was, but the taijutsu user was able to handle himself so he figured he would meet them outside quickly enough.

oOoOoOo

***Five Minutes Later***

Anko slowly dragged her hands together, grimacing as she formed the handseal on herself. The technique was originally designed to take out an enemy while sacrificing the user in turn, but that wasn't an option for her. Instead she would use it on herself, though even she wasn't sure how extensive the damage would get by doing such.

I can do this much…

The Cursed Seal responded to her attempts at summoning chakra, quickly spreading across her pale flesh to the point of covering the majority of her body. She could feel the power surging through her, even as she felt her life rapidly draining away.

Come on Anko…one last push…use the power that bastard gave you…

Finally the technique activated, and Anko let out a long breath of relief as the power accumulated within her withered body.

For Konoha…you sons of bitches…

"Souja…sousai…no…Jutsu" (Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique)

oOoOoOo

The group was miles away from the complex when Anko's technique activated, but they were still blown away by the magnitude of the forbidden technique.

Dozens of gigantic snakes appeared around the building and wrapped it into a tight cocoon with their bodies before the two lead purple snakes clasped together with their powerful jaws near the top of the complex.

By design, the technique was meant to only destroy the user and target within a certain area.

When Anko's used it in conjunction with her Cursed Seal on herself, the black explosion that began from inside the snakes and expanded outwards covered over two miles, evaporating everything in range.

Sasuke clutched Itachi tightly on his shoulder and braced himself while Lee dropped Jito's body to the ground and covered it with his own. The group watched as a shockwave screamed through the air and slammed into them, knocking most of the group to the ground with loud groans of pain.

"Hot damn…" said Fiore, one of the few who hadn't been knocked down. "That woman certainly knows how to make a scene."

"One of her better traits," smirked Kakashi, offering a hand to Konan to help her back up.

Sasuke adjusted his hold on his brother's unconscious body and turned to the others in the group. He hadn't asked Lee why he had brought Jito's body with them, but given what the Senju had sacrificed to bring his brother back Sasuke wasn't going to complain.

"We should get moving," said Kakashi, having assumed leadership of the group. "That explosion will bring every Quiraji soldier in the area down on our heads."

"Where are we going to go?" asked Fiore, flicking a small piece of debris from her shoulder. "Back to Cascading Flow?"

"Itachi probably needs medical attention," said Konan, aware that they were days away from any kind of shelter that didn't involve digging underground again. While he was unconscious she had no intention of confronting him over his role in Nagato's death.

Although when he did wake up, they would certainly have a chat. That, she made no promises on.

Picking up their fallen leader's body from where he had put him down, Lee drew in a long breath before turning to Kakashi with a serious expression.

"I know where we need to go."


Author's Note:

And that is how Konoha was destroyed.

Shikyo's abilities haven't been fully revealed for obvious reasons, but she has quite a large role to play. I know she's stupidly overpowered, and that's part of the point. I don't want to fully explain it now, since I think it would ruin her part in the story.

I love Anko as a character, and I felt like bringing her in just for a moment in my story. If there was ever a character to go out with a 'bang', then I figured she should be the one to do it. Once a badass, always a badass.

I find the timing of this chapter, and what is happening in Naruto currently to be amusingly coincidental. They have Senju versus Uchiha; I have Senju versus Uchiha, though in a different manner. Particularly considering there is no more Senju clan now in this story, excluding Elika and Fiore, slightly.

Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.