Five days after she talked with Ningyou, Karasu was sitting in her room when someone knocked on her door. Getting up, she opened the door to see her mentor with a serious look on his face.

"Can I talk to you?" Itachi asked.

Karasu stood back to allow him to come in, careful not to show how nervous she was. Itachi sat at her desk, motioning for her to sit on the bed. Once she sat, Itachi started talking.

"You have improved greatly with the Sharingan since the first time you used it," he said, "I feel that I should tell you more about it now."

"Does the Sharingan have side effects?" Karasu asked.

Itachi shook his head. "Not the one you use."

"There are different kinds of Sharingan?"

Itachi closed his eyes. "First, we'll start with your normal Sharingan. I'm sure you noticed what the Sharingan does."

Karasu knew the Sharingan allowed the user to see all of her opponent's moves and assessed the opponent's chakra. She nodded.

"There is a second level called the Mangekyou Sharingan. I'm certain you haven't heard of this eye technique before."

Mangekyou Sharingan…sounds interesting. Karasu shook her head.

"Well, the Mangekyou Sharingan is much more powerful than the regular Sharingan. It gives the user access to three more techniques. It is also unique to each Uchiha. However, your eyesight will slowly deteriorate with every use until you eventually go blind."

"How do I awaken it?" Karasu's interest in the Mangekyou Sharingan intensified with every word Itachi said. However, Itachi's next words were unexpected.

"You kill your best friend."

Karasu's eyes widened. "Kill…my best friend?" she repeated.

"Not only must you kill him or her, you must also feel the pain of the murder. Would you do it to gain power?" Itachi's voice held no emotions, but there was something in his eyes that told Karasu there was a reason he was asking this. Her response was very careful.

…

Later that day…

"How is your training going?" Sakan lazily watched one of Tenchi's origami butterflies flutter around the room.

"I can summon beasts and absorb some weaker ninjutsu now," Itami reported. "What about you?"

"Kisame-san says that I'm getting better at wielding Samehada, and my water jutsu is pretty strong."

"I'm getting better at controlling large amounts of paper." Tenchi was making another origami butterfly.

"Shiro and I can pretty much go undetected now," Kuroi said, "Remember when we scared Sakan, Itami, and Tenchi half to death?"

"That was awesome!" Shiro chortled.

Fumetsu smirked. "I wish I saw that. I would definitely pick seeing the sharkman get scared over listening to Hidan blabber."

"What has he taught you so far?" Sutetchi looked up from stitching his clothes.

"Nothing! That stupid man keeps talking about this thing called Jashin! Like I care what that is."

Sutetchi rolled his eyes and went back to his stitching. Ningyou and Nendo were comparing jutsus in the corner.

"My clay bomb can actually fly now, hmm," Nendo boasted, "It can also explode!"

"But it can't poison anyone," Ningyou countered. "I just managed to make my first puppet. It's weak, but it's better than your clay bombs."

Fumetsu glanced at them and snorted. "You two are both weak! I bet that one of you guys will be the first to die!"

Tenchi glared at Fumetsu, but before he could say anything, Sakan said, "Ha! With that arrogant nature of yours, you're gonna die first!"

"Kuroi and Shiro are gonna die first," Sutetchi voiced his opinion, "They're the weakest."

"What did you say, zombie?"

"Itami should die first," Shiro said, "The leader always dies first, and they entrust everything else to their friends."

"When did I say I was leader?" Itami said indignantly.

"Well, you're Leader-sama's clone," Ningyou reasoned.

Just then, Nendo caught sight of Karasu walking past the room. "Hey, Karasu!" He ran out, grabbed Karasu by the arm, and dragged her into the conversation. "You think you're gonna be the first to die out of all of us?"

"Nope," Karasu said, looking as though this was the last conversation she wanted to be in.

"Well, who you think will die first?" Ningyou asked.

Karasu took her time looking at the others. Finally, she shrugged and said, "Fumetsu."

"What?" Fumetsu yelped. "I am not gonna die! I'm immortal!"

"And your immortality will only make you reckless," Karasu pointed out, "Even if you don't die, you'll still be incapacitated."

Fumetsu looked ready to explode. "Then let's all make a bet!" she snapped, "Whoever dies first will be known as the weakest!"

Sakan grinned. "I'm in," he said.

Ningyou and Nendo both joined in, and Sutetchi agreed after pondering for a bit.

"Do we count as two people, or one?" Shiro asked.

Ningyou tilted her head, thinking. "Two," she decided.

Fumetsu turned her head to Itami and Tenchi. "What about you two?"

"Fine," Tenchi muttered. Itami rolled her eyes and gave in.

All eyes turned to Karasu. She shrugged again and said, "Whatever. I'm in."

…

"The time will be soon, Kabuto," Orochimaru's eyes shone with a hunger for revenge.

"The four are ready, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied.

"Good. What about that clone?"

"I have posted a watch. Do not worry, Orochimaru-sama."

"Excellent!" Orochimaru smiled. "The time will soon come! The Akatsuki shall be destroyed along with any clones who dare to oppose me! I shall claim my revenge!"

This fanfiction is divided into two parts, and part one has just finished. Part two will most likely be longer and better (I hope). Still, thanks for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated!