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Snapped

Ryuu tossed the swords into the air, beginning to juggle them. They were supposed to be dull, but he had sharpened them especially for the show. The plan had taken all day to prepare, so it was already dark out. However, thankfully, Michiru wasn't dead yet. Instead, he was standing on a board extended from one of the towers, a noose around his neck as he watched the circus performers.

Off to Ryuu's side, Fu was acting as an acrobat, easily pulling off stunts like jumping from the top of a gate to an elephant's raised trunk and back again. He had to hand it to her. She was an excellent actor. He looked back at the crowd they had gathered. Not quite big enough to start, and the three shinobi weren't there. Which meant the others would meet them first. But he would be the one to deal with Ishidate. That much he had made the others swear to. He was sure that later the amount of hate and bloodlust he felt for Ishidate would scare him and give him nightmares. And he was sure that he should be worried by just how much he wanted to see Ishidate's head separated from his shoulders, but for the time being he only needed to worry about being a distraction.

"We're ready Sensei," Sakura said over their communicators.

Kakashi made his way to the edge of the fountain, the crowd turning to him. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, our grand finale." He pulled his eyepatch off of his Sharingan. "So sit back, and enjoy!"

Ryuu glanced up at the balcony where he could see the three shinobi watching with Shabadaba, seeing them instantly recognize Kakashi. He grinned, spinning one of his four swords in his right hand. Showtime. Kakashi formed several hand seals, the water behind him exploding skyward into a tornado, then into a dragon, spewing a massive flood of water at the guards who were watching the show, washing them away and leaving most too dazed to get up. Then, Kakashi threw his disguise off. Guards moved to attack and Ryuu hurled his swords, the sharpened blades sticking into the ground, seals script spreading from them into a box. Then, as almost half of the soldiers entered the box, the seal script shone gold and a barrier shot up around them, trapping them inside.

"Nice one!" Kakashi said as Ryuu released his transformation Jutsu. "Go and help the others."

Ryuu nodded, taking one step back before leaping forward, curling into a ball. Halfway to the castle, Fu's foot collided with his own feet and he pushed off, rocketing away from her and to the base of the tower Michiru was hanging from. Just as he flipped and landed on his feet, Ishidate fell toward him, swiping at him only for Ryuu to flip sideways out of the way, Sharingan activating.

"Nice try," Ryuu snarled. "But I'm not going to fall for that. And this time, there's no poison slowing me down. I'm going to rip you apart and watch you choke to death on your own intestines!"

Ishidate smirked, holding up his right hand, the eye glowing bright orange as his free hand drew a kunai. "Good trick with that barrier ninjutsu earlier. You're pretty skilled."

"Save your talk for someone who cares," Ryuu snarled, releasing his gravity seals. "Just die!"

He appeared behind Ishidate, slamming both fists into his back and blasting him into the ground before flipping and punting him away, off of the tower they were on and into a different one. He leapt after him, crashing down before Ishidate, who staggered backward, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

"What the hell are you!?" he gaped. "No one's that fast!"

"Think again," Ryuu snarled, suddenly behind Ishidate.

Ishidate spun, meaning to escape only for Ryuu to catch his right arm, slashing with a kunai. Ishidate flipped, kicking at Ryuu and making him duck under it. Then, as soon as Ishidate's feet his the ground, he leapt backward, away from Ryuu. Ryuu stood, glaring at him and Ishidate smirked.

"You're not so quick after all," Ishidate grinned.

"Aren't I?" Ryuu asked.

Ishidate looked down, feeling his gut drop as he stared at the kunai sticking out of the back of his hand, stabbed into the now bleeding eye. He shouted in fear as his own arm began to turn to stone, spreading from the gauntlet slowly.

"I win," Ryuu said. "Either you remove your own arm, or you turn to stone. Which will it be?"

Ishidate shouted in rage, drawing a kunai and streaming chakra along it, slashing down on his arm at the elbow, severing it. Blood sprayed from the wound and Ishidate fell to one knee. Then, Ryuu appeared beside him, flames bursting to life in his hand as he slammed it into Ishidate's stump, cauterizing it as Ishidate screamed. Finally, Ryuu released his arm and leapt backward, avoiding a sloppy slash. Ishidate fell to his knees, falling forward to his one hand and gasping for breath. His hair shifted forward then fell away, revealing it to be a wig, leaving short light brown hair in its place.

"Nice wig," Ryuu said. "What's the matter? What happened to all that cockiness you had before? Can't fight without your arm? Some shinobi you are."

Ishidate glared at him, pushing himself up and readying himself, holding his kunai tightly. "You little shit! Just die!"

Sasuke flipped over Kongo's fist, landing lightly and sweeping his legs out from under him, flipping and slamming a foot into Kongo's back, blasting him away. Kongo crashed into a pillar, shattering it before pushing himself up.

"How are you so fucking strong!?" Kongo shouted. "It's impossible! You're just a brat!"

"Yeah, I am," Sasuke said. "You must be so ashamed of yourself right now for losing to a kid without landing a hit."

"I haven't lost anything yet!" Kongo shouted, slamming his fists into the ground, blasting it apart and charging at Sasuke, grabbing a pair of massive chunks and hurling them.

Sasuke flipped over the chunks and landed on his feet, dropping and sliding under Kongo, knocking the leg that was about to be put down backward and making him crash to the ground, biting his tongue completely off. Kongo shouted in pain, clutching his face and rolling over as Sasuke stepped up over him, placing a foot on his chest.

"As for how I'm this strong, I have a friend to thank for it," Sasuke said. "And one day, when I find my brother, I'll be able to thank that same friend for allowing me to have the strength to kill my brother. So, as you can see, you're not worth my time."

Kongo's hand snapped up, catching Sasuke's leg and beginning to hurl him only for Sasuke to flip, kicking Kongo's arm in the back of the elbow, breaking it, then grabbing Kongo, hurling him skyward. He leapt after Kongo slamming a foot into Kongo's left side, breaking that arm too, then flipped, smashing his fist into Kongo's face, launching him at the ground. Then, he flipped, falling after Kongo and smashing his heel into Kongo's chest at the same time as Kongo hit the ground, crushing his ribcage and killing him. He flipped backward, landing on his feet and sighed.

"Oops," Sasuke said. "That might have been a little much."

He heard Sakura scream and took off, leaping to the door the others had gone through and then following the hallways quickly. Finally, he stepped out into a room where Sakura was surrounded by flower petals. However, just as he arrived, Sakura spun, smashing her fist into the girl she had been fighting, knocking her backward before hurling several kunai with paper bombs, the explosion blasting the girl into the wall. She wasn't dead, however, until an explosion hit the tower, making the wall the girl had just damaged collapse on her.

"Shit!" Sakura said. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"That's got to be Naruto," Sasuke said.

"I don't know," Sakura said as they ran. "Ryuu seemed pretty pissed off at Ishidate."

"Yes, but Ryuu doesn't kill," Sasuke said.

Just then, they stepped outside and stopped, staring. Naruto and the guards had been fighting the soldiers loyal to Shabadaba and Naruto had clearly used his Rasengan, a jutsu he had shown Sasuke when he got back from his mission to find Tsunade, resulting in the explosion that killed the girl, as well as rendering all of the soldiers Naruto had been fighting completely unconscious. But the thing Sasuke and Sakura were staring at was hanging from a tower in the distance. Ishidate, his right arm amputated and cauterized at the elbow, his abdomen cut open and his intestines stuffed down his throat. In addition to that, there were obvious signs of him having been beaten to a bloody pulp, such as the dark bruises covering his face, his swollen right eye, and his broken left arm. Around his neck as a noose was a wire cable.

"Jesus!" Sakura breathed. "What happened to him?"

Just then, Ishidate's body dropped, his head spinning away as the wire cable finished cutting through his neck, decapitating him. Sakura turned away, vomiting, and Sasuke could only stare in shock. Then, his eyes drifted up to the top of the tower above Ishidate, staring at Ryuu, blood coating his hands and forearms, sprayed across his torso and face, and his Sharingan glowing blood red. Fear filled Sasuke. Fear of his best friend and brother. And fear of himself Fear that he would become this. This thing who was so clearly inhuman, who cared only about revenge, to the point of losing his humanity to get it.

Then, Ryuu blinked, his Sharingan deactivating and fell to his knees, hands moving to his face as he sobbed. Sasuke stared in shock. He couldn't believe that he had expected anything else from Ryuu, and yet, he also couldn't believe it had been Ryuu who did that to Ishidate.

"Help him," Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded, sprinting to the tower, then up the side of it, stopping as he reached Ryuu and kneeling, setting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Ryuu shouted, smacking Sasuke's hand away yet continuing to sob. "I'm a monster!"

"No, you're not," Sasuke said. "You..." he found he didn't know what to say. He didn't have the slightest idea how to comfort Ryuu in this situation.

Fortunately for him, Fu landed beside him a moment later. She knelt instantly, pulling Ryuu into a hug and not letting go, even when he tried to push her away, swearing and sobbing and shouting for her to leave him alone. Finally, he settled for wrapping his arms around her and sobbing into her shoulder. Sasuke remained where he was, one hand on Ryuu's shoulder, unsure what else to do.

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