I'm sorry I didn't update sooner! My family moved, so I've been busy packing and unpacking. I couldn't work on fanfiction in the car either. Please forgive!

Lightning Style: Thunder Needles! Karasu fired the needles at the attacking Otogakure ninjas. Many went down, but it wasn't enough. Most of the enemies just ducked behind the wall, using chakra to make sure they didn't slide off.

Kidomaru gave the signal, telling his army to throw a mass of shurikens and kunais at the target. Karasu failed to deflect all of the attacks, thus adding more wounds to the numerous scratches she already had.

"Why don't you just give up?" Kidomaru aimed an arrow at the weakened and exhausted kunoichi.

"Give up and die?" Karasu glared at Kidomaru while gasping for breath, "And leave my friends alone in this war? That's just as bad as betraying them!"

Kidomaru laughed. "Shame. Your existence means nothing anyway." He let go. Karasu dodged to the side but not fast enough. The arrow left a deep cut in her arm. Blood gushed from the wound, soaking her sleeve.

Karasu barely took any notice. "Then I'll make my existence mean something!" she retorted.

Neither of them noticed a white head poking out from a nearby tree.

"Karasu's in trouble!" Kuroi's shout alarmed everyone in the hideout.

"What?" Ningyou immediately rushed to the black clone.

In a flash, Itachi stood over Kuroi. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"At the ruins in the Forest of Death."

"Is she alone?" Disbelief showed in Pein's voice.

"That's what I don't understand. Karasu never disobeys orders."

Ningyou barely heard the last line. She raced for the doors, ignoring Pain when he called to her to wait. Footsteps followed her and she looked back just in time to see Itachi race past. Sasori was right behind him. The three of them went to find Karasu.

"Perhaps you'd like to change your mind?" Kidomaru pointed another arrow at Karasu. Karasu said nothing but gazed at him with fury in her eyes.

"Hmph." Kidomaru let the arrow fly. It pierced Karasu's left shoulder, drilling a hole. She gritted her teeth against the pain and refused to scream out. Instead, she fell to her knees, putting her hand to the wound. Through the haze of pain, she saw the enemy readying the last arrow. The arrow that would surely kill her.

Wshhh!

"Itachi-san!" Ningyou called to the head of the patrol, "How much longer until we get to the ruins?"

Sasori answered for him. "About ten minutes."

"That's taking too long! Karasu might be dead by the time we get there!"

Sasori stared at her for a moment longer. "Itachi! Go on ahead!" he said, "We'll catch up!"

Itachi nodded and sped up, soon leaving Ningyou and Sasori behind.

Wait for us, Karasu! Ningyou pleaded silently.

Karasu barely felt anything. It happened so quickly she didn't even know it happened until the shock wore off and the pain began. The arrow had missed her heart by millimeters, but the wound was still bleeding heavily. Feeling drained of all energy, Karasu fell facedown onto the ground.

"Finally, she's done. I'm impressed. She managed to use a Wind Style move at the last moment to mess up my arrow's aim. I don't meet prey like this very often." Kidomaru chuckled before putting his bow away. "Let's go back to Orochimaru-san!" he called to the Sound Ninjas that had survived Karasu's attacks.

"But Kidomaru-san, shouldn't we make sure the clone is dead?" One Sound Ninja asked.

"Even if she isn't dead now, she'll die soon. She's losing too much blood," Kidomaru shrugged.

Shiro popped up silently beside Karasu. "Karasu," he whispered, "Karasu, wake up!" He gave the limp kunoichi a desperate nudge.

"Looks like another clone decided to show its face." Shiro looked up to see Kidomaru standing over him.

"Which clone is this?" Kidomaru called to his Sound Ninja army.

"It is one of the clones of Zetsu, Kidomaru-san," a sound Ninja hastened to answer.

"Ah, yes. The plant-man." Kidomaru took out his bow and placed an arrow in it, this time pointing at Shiro. "Orochimaru-san will be so pleased when he learns I eliminated two clones instead of one."

Instinctively, Shiro jumped up and began to run. "You can't escape my arrows!" Kidomaru yelled, releasing the bow string.

Crack! The arrow drilled a hole through the tree that was behind Shiro, but Shiro himself had disappeared.

"Where did he…?" Kidomaru whirled around, "What the…?"

Karasu had miraculously gotten back up. A transparent skeletal warrior took up the ground around her. In one of the warrior's hands was Shiro, who looked terrified and relieved.

"Karasu, your eyes…" he breathed. Karasu's eyes had changed. They weren't the regular onyx color of her normal eyes, nor were they the Sharingan. There was still a red background and a black design, but the design was not the three comma-like shapes of the original Sharingan.

Karasu touched her eyes. "So this is the Mangekyou Sharingan Itachi-san was talking about," she rasped.

Shiro let out a cry of surprise as the skeletal warrior suddenly swung its arm inwards and dropped Shiro next to Karasu in its rib cage. Karasu winced at the pain that came as a price for controlling the warrior called Susano'o. She coughed up blood, and in the moment that her focus wavered, Susano'o flickered and disappeared.

Kidomaru let out a snarl of frustration. He had already used up his chakra to create all those arrows, and the clones were still alive. He whipped out a kunai and charged with murderous intent.

"Shiro," Karasu said, "Help me." Shiro seized Karasu's arm and jumped onto a wall of the ruins. "Where do we go?" he asked desperately. He noticed that Karasu had closed an eye.

"Make sure you stand where I can't see you," she ordered as blood trickled from the closed eye. Shiro immediately sank into the wall, disappearing entirely.

Karasu focused her gaze at Kidomaru, who just jumped into the air. Concentrating as hard as she could, she allowed the pressure in her eye to build up and opened it.

Amaterasu!

Kidomaru erupted into black flames. He shrieked and fell to the ground, where he writhed as he was burned alive. Within seconds, he had turned into a pile of ash. The black fire went out.

Not giving the Sound Ninjas time to fully realize what happened; Karasu jumped off the wall and transferred her glare to the army. More screams of pain echoed around the clearing as the Sound Ninja army suffered from Amaterasu's blaze.

Itachi burst through the last of the trees and skidded to a halt in front of the piles of ash surrounding the ruin. This is…Amaterasu! Realizing this, he scanned the clearing for Karasu. She swayed in the center of the clearing and started to fall. Itachi used Body Flicker to transport himself next to her and catch her before she hit the ground.

"Karasu…" Itachi was at a loss for words.

"Itachi-san," Karasu smiled, "I awakened…the Mangekyou."

"I know," Itachi answered, hoping that would quiet her before Ningyou and Sasori arrived.

Karasu kept talking. "It's…Fumetsu. Fumetsu is…the traitor…and she has…gone to…kill another…one."

"Don't talk, Karasu. Ningyou and Sasori are coming and they'll be able to heal you," Itachi assured.

Karasu shook her head. "I'm already…too far gone."

"What do you mean?" Itachi felt panic rising in him. "You're not going to die! We won't let you!"

Karasu disregarded what Itachi just said. "Please, Itachi-san. Tell Ningyou…not…to give up." She seized Itachi's wrist, "Promise me…you'll tell her."

Itachi nodded, too numb to speak.

Karasu relaxed. "Thank you." Her words were barely a whisper. Eyes glazing over, the hand holding Itachi's wrist fell and Karasu moved no more. Itachi hugged his apprentice's body to him, shaking as he struggled to hold back tears.

…..It's ok, guys. You can yell at me for killing Karasu in your reviews.

This isn't the last of Karasu though; she'll come back later. I needed to have her die here so I could… (claps hand to mouth) Crap. I nearly gave away part of the story.

Another announcement. I'm going to be posting the approximate release dates for the next chapters of this story on my profile. Please remember that the dates are APPROXIMATE, so don't get confused if the chapter does not come out on that specific date. Release dates for the chapters of The Uchiha Legacy and Modern Akatsuki are also listed there.

Reviews are still appreciated (I'm scared), and thanks for reading!