AN:Edit - fixed missing section breaks

EDIT 2- for some reason my chapter section breaks AND spaces to distinguish flashbacks were being removed when i tried saving the document, sorry about that. I hope that hasn't carried over to previous chapters.

Edit 3 - and it has...ohh i am annoyed. looks like I have quite a bit of things to fix up.

Chapter 58 Dissolving Aspiration

'I think you have been given enough time already Fukusaku, Shima.' Jiraiya concluded, as he brought out another ice scroll.

Mangetsu's sword by this time had glowing marks practically plaguing all over the great blade, with over three quarters of the orb surrounded by the alit markings. The drainage of Mangetsu's life force now was clearly visible to the naked eye. A line of blood was running down his mouth and nose, but despite the ghastly signs of internal bleeding, the swordsman still was not backing down.

Jiraiya was determined to not let whatever the swordsman was doing finish.

Opening the scroll, Jiraiya then slammed the thing paper down into the ground, as it began to leak out a thick mist. Standing in his stance not far, Mangetsu narrowed his gaze on the thick cloud beginning to spread, as a line of fog exhaled out of his mouth from the sudden drop in temperature.

'What is he trying to do? Blind me again, freeze me to death?'

"Katon Dai Endan!" Called out through the mist, as the fogs density dropped when a great fireball flew towards Mangetsu.

The swordsman just laughed as he shielded himself with the sword, and upon connecting with the jutsu, the flames began to absorb into the orb, "Did you forget what happened last time you tried a katon Jiraiya?!"

"No I didn't."

Mangetsu's violet eyes bulged at the voice that came from behind him, as he looked over his shoulder to see the sannin wielding a basketball sized rasengan in his palm.

'Shit! He is using a kage bunshin to create the fire jutsu, while he sneaked around when I was fully focused on the fireball!'

Hopping to the side to let the remainder of the fireball pass, Mangetsu began to swing his great sword around to intercept Jiraiya, "Rasengan!"

Upon connecting with the side of the blade, the rasengan, because of the senjutsu chakra rotating within it, did not disperse. Instead, it was like two great forces connecting to each other, which made both men lose balance from the kick back. Due to the great force, Mangetsu's sword went airborne, rotating rapidly in the air.

Cursing, Mangetsu went to jump for his weapon, but as if some kind of resistance suddenly had fallen, the toads croaking suddenly amplified in volume tenfold, making his world spin in a blur. Within an instant, the world blackened and then flicked on again in the fashion of a light switch. Mangetsu went agape to taste a fowl mouthful of water, as he came to terms to his sudden surroundings.

The walls and floor looked like that of intestines from a great large animal. To both his sides, front, and behind, stood four gigantic toads dressed in samurai armour. Each toad had a finned hand stuck out, which was making him imprisoned in a cylinder made of nothing but water.

Jiraiya could be seen with the two toad sages looking up at him from underneath the cell, "Is this the genjutsu I sensed before?"

"Indeed it is. This genjutsu paralyses the mind and the nerves. Without that sword producing senjutsu chakra within your body, your chances of escaping are nonexistent."

Mangetsu gritted his teeth, as Jiraiya then narrowed his eyes, "Now then. We are going to have a little chat."

"Hmmph. What are you going to do if I refuse? Kill me? Heh, that threat long has numbed to mean nothing to me these days."

Jiraiya was about to retort, but Mangetsu smirked, "But have it your way, what do you want to chat about?"

"What you said before, 'the Sandaime has returned.' What on earth are you talking about? Sarutobi-sensei is dead, and not even a forbidden technique will bring his soul back from the grave."

Mangetsu snickered, "Sarutobi??...who the hell are 'YOU' talking about?"

Jiraiya was taken aback as Mangetsu cackled, "I am not talking about the Sandaime hokage you narrow minded fool, the one I am speaking of-..."

That signature piranha smirk practically sang Mangetsu's excitement.

"I am talking about the Sandaime Mizukage of course."

"Sandaime Mizukage?!"

"Yes, the Sandaime Mizukage who was leader of Kiri during the time of the second great shinobi world war."

"That is impossible, the Sandaime's reign ended over twenty years ago! "

Mangetsu's uncontrollable chuckling was not aiding in making this bizarre announcement any clearer, "Hehehe, his reign never ended, at least not from within the shadows. The crazed Yondaime Mizukage was just a puppet for his own biddings."

Blinking in bafflement, Jiraiya shook his head, "Are we talking about the same man? The Sandaime Mizukage, Yuki? He died from disease, and even so, he was well into his later years in age. What you are saying does not add up."

The swordsman only gave a toothy smile, "The reason I came to seek out Kisame-sempai was to confirm if he heard the same rumour. He would be wound up over the news, Kiri never was the same once he disappeared, I can even see his shark teethed smile already planted on his face at the coming chaos he will bring!"

Not understanding that strange sentence blurted out at all, Jiraiya looked to Fukusaku as if to question him for advice, "This looks to be much deeper than it sound's Jiraiya-chan. This 'Yuki' may also be just another part to this as well alon' with tha Yondaime Mizukage. You'd do best to check into this further later."

"Just whack this crackpot already Kiddo."

Sighing, Jiraiya glanced once more at the swordsman, "This fight is over."

Once Jiraiya's words had finished, Mangetsu's eyes bulged at a sudden impact into his chest, as the world flickered back to the evening sky.

Jiraiya was standing above him, with that unusual sword from before embedded into the source of his sudden sensation. Twitching his head to the side, Mangetsu watched as his sword he tried to grab earlier dug deep into a puddle of lava, and began to submerge.

Seeing that he truly had lost, he snickered, bringing up a mouth full of blood, "So this is the end."

Narrowing his eyes, Jiraiya couldn't hold back the question, "How does it feel?"

Mangetsu knew what he sannin meant by the question, recalling their conversation earlier about how he wished to die, "...Grand."

Jiraiya was at a loss at that response, but knew any further attempts were pointless.

Mangetsu cackled out another load of blood, "-Such a shame,-I never got to find the bastard...who took Suigetsu."

'Suigetsu?' Jiraiya wondered, as he watched the swordsman coughed once more, but remained motionless afterwards.

Looking at Mangetsu for a moment longer, Jiraiya then looked to his sides upon hearing the two sages gagging, "Are you both alright?"

"*Cough* The duet dries y'er throat out."

"It's cause Tau-chan *Cough* sings worse than a old maggot."

"K-Ka*Cough* Ka-chan!"

"Forget I ever asked." Jiraiya muttered, as he stood and looked at the half submerged sword. Focussing his gaze, he sensed something of interest, which both of the elder toads noticed as well, making them force themselves to restrain their coughing.

With a burst of speed, Jiraiya grabbed the sword from its hilt, and pulled it out of the lava pit, flicking molten rock up while doing so. Had he had been a moment too slow, another pair of gloved hands would have snatched it.

"Hold it right there!" Jiraiya declared to the new person.

He didn't need to ponder on the person's identity much, the insignia for Kirigakure on his forehead protector was a dead giveaway. The ANBU mask, along with the black shinobi attire and vest only solidified Jiraiya's conclusion.

A hunter-nin from Kiri.

"I knew you were watching us the moment I entered sage mode. " Jiraiya explained, as if sensing the nin's questioning gaze.

Finally, the hunter-nin spoke with a tone level Jiraiya guessed was from a young man, "Kiri appreciates your aid in defeating one of our most wanted S ranked criminals-"

"Spare it already. I didn't kill him out of sympathy for your village, only in self defence. I must say though, were you ever actually going to fight him yourself, or were you just waiting for me to give you an opening?"

The man didn't reply to Jiraiya, but the sannin knew underneath that mask was a glare. The hunter-nin never answered Jiraiya's question.

"That sword is property to our village. Please hand it over."

"I don't think so."

"This is not your place to say! The Ryujin even though it was wielded by him, belongs to us. "

Looking back at Mangetsu, Jiraiya then raised the heavy sword, feeling the monster sealed within it practically radiating in his palm. It's power was great and dark, which was beginning to make his skin crawl, "This sword...must never be used by anybody ever again. The power it wields along with its fatal price should not be burdened on anyone."

"Again, this is not your decision."

Jiraiya then snapped his firm gaze on the hunter-nin, which on impulse made the nin grip on the buckle of his kunai holster, "If you were strong enough to fight Mangetsu, you would have done so long ago. The fact that you haven't means you know you would lose...so what makes you think you stand a chance against the man that defeated him?"

Hesitantly, the hunter-nin let his hand go limp by his side, "Even if you are true to your word, what exactly do you plan to do with the swor-"

"We'll take it back to Mount Myobokuzan. Eventually we will destroy it, putting the beasts spirit to rest." Fukusaku interrupted the hunter-nin.

Jiraiya could tell the man did not agree with him at all, but he could also tell the hunter-nin had no ways to force him to hand it over.

Jiraiya had hit the mark dead on before.

Seeing the nin's shoulders tense showed the man's annoyance, "Fine then, do as you please with it. Kiri is not going to forget this." He said as neutral as possible, as he walked past Jiraiya towards Mangetsu.

"I assume you are not going to object to me disposing of his body right this instant? Since this is my duty as a hunter-nin after all."

"No complaints from me, go for it." Jiraiya said dismissively.

Before walking away, Jiraiya turned back, "I have a couple of questions for you."

"What is it?"

"...Before he died, he mentioned someone by the name Suigetsu, does that name ring a bell to you?"

"Suigetsu...that was Mangetsu's little brother. He was taken by somebody a long time ago. We never found out who. I believe that was his reason behind him leaving Kiri, since he never was granted the opportunity to find him."

"He didn't leave just to go freelance?"

"If he claimed that...then I am very certain that he was lying."

Contemplating for a moment, Jiraiya was about to ask his next question, but a sudden finned hand poking his cheek made him look to Fukusaku. The sage was shaking his head, as if Fukusaku knew Jiraiya was going to ask about the Sandaime Mizukage.

Listening to the elder, Jiraiya turned, "That is all, do what you have to do."

Bursting through some bushes that were partially damp with blood, Kakuzu's tiger masked heart continued following the trail, 'She can't be much further away by now.'

Soon the great beast held in its tracks when it reached the end. Only there was no wounded kunoichi on the ground.

Instead there was a pair of elbow pads, one being burnt black, and the other had mixed it's cream shade with liquid red. Along with the pads, were a pair of gloves as well, one also in a similar burnt state.

There were no clear signs of Sakura at all.

Glancing over his constricting surroundings, Kakuzu's eyes narrowed, 'She either is still running and has healed her injury...or she has set another ambush.'

Turning to see being the beast, Kakuzu saw the thread that still had the kunai buried within it. The thread itself had mostly been repaired by entangling around the kunai, but Kakuzu knew that with enough effort, it could be broken open again. That inhuman strength he witnessed and experienced from Sakura alone would tear through it, that is, if she was given enough of an opening.

Keeping that in mind, the beast turned back and prowled forward, 'In that case, I will just bait her out.'

Hearing rustling, the beast lunged straight towards the source of the noise, being a bush, and swept its claws over it, tearing the plant to shreds. There was nobody behind it, but his sharp eyes could just make out the shine of a wire that was attached to one of the bush's branches.

His 'arm' then felt a sudden grip on the same injured spot again, but instead of spinning around in surprise, he smirked, 'Got you!'

A sudden surprised gasp followed soon after his muse, as he turned now to scrutinise the kunoichi. True to his earlier thoughts, her arm was healed back to normal.

Looking down at her hands, he inwardly snickered, 'I knew you were going to go for that part of the thread again, it truthfully is the only chance you have. Too bad I was prepared for it.'

Parts of the thread had burst out from the point's around the damaged section, and were entangled around her hands. She barely could even move her wrists to grip the hilt of the kunai. Sakura's struggles increased in her panic upon realisation she was trapped, as Kakuzu formed another seal.

"Katon, Goukakyuu no jutsu!" The mouth of the mask snapped open again, releasing a great stream of fire the completely engulfed Sakura, who could do nothing but scream till the roaring flames muted her distress.

As the blaze continued to cover the area, Kakuzu did not miss the hissing steam emitting from atop of the inferno. At first he dismissed it for smoke, but then his eyes shot wide open, 'She tricked me again!'

Spinning around upon sensing something, the creature's ceramic mask met a feminine fist, causing it to yet again collapse from the unimaginable force behind it.

Kakuzu's partly blurred vision saw black sandals shoot past, and then heard a battle cry, "I AM NOT DONE YET!"

A surge of pain was felt, along with a sickening popping sound, as the creatures vision went black, fading back to the location Kakuzu was standing. He stood there without his shocked expression ever changing for well over a minute, until he looked down at his gone limp thread from his wrist.

"Not bad, not bad at all kid."

.

Flashback, within the forest, five minutes ago

.

Panting, Sakura continued carelessly stumbling her way along through the forest, knowing very well what was right on her tail. Bumping her bad arm against a tree made her wince, but she bit down hard to not let a sound escape. Welcoming the tree for its support as she leaned against it, she brought her hand out of her weapon pouch, bringing out the item she was after.

Naruto's canteen.

Giving it a small shake to hear its contents swish around, she began to have doubt to her idea and purpose in taking it, 'These things hold only around seven hundred mls at most...is that even going to be enough!?'

Placing the canteen back in her pouch, she let out a grunt when on accident, she brushed her arm against the timber, 'This is bleeding bad, I must have cut it against whatever I crashed into.'

Pulling away from the tree, she stared at the red marking left on its trunk, as the blood was trickling down to the floor. Her eyes then showed realisation, 'I am leaving a trail! DAMN IT!'

Sakura yet again was off to a run, but knew she had to do something to stop the bleeding. Wincing as she brought up her injured arm, she slid off her other arm's elbow pad, and then used it to keep pressure on the wound.

Soon she stumbled through some bushes and fell to her knees, and removed the pad to inspect the deep wound, 'Treating this myself is going to take far too long, and bandaging it will only hinder my movement.' Going into her pouch, she once again pulled out the canteen, this time unscrewing the lid, as she poured it all out on the ground before her.

Fighting through the pain, she formed a seal with both her hands. Maybe it was from the rush of adrenaline, but she couldn't hold back a hysteric filled chuckle.

"I picked a hell of a time to try my limits with this jutsu."

She muttered to herself, as she began the jutsu, "Mizu bunshin no jutsu."

Watching the small puddle begin to rise, she prayed it would complete.

Upon it collapsing, she let out a strained and stressed curse, "SHIT!"

Staring at the liquid that now was mixing with her blood, she tried again in desperation, "Mizu bunshin no jutsu!"

Watching the liquid rise again, she yet again prayed for it to form. Sakura never could be so grateful to see a copy of herself from the small amount of water, but it still caught her off guard.

She didn't do anything different, so why did it form?

Realising she was wasting time, she dismissed her question, 'This thing will last at least a couple of minutes. I better be quick.'

With a quick nod to her doppelganger, the mizu bunshin came to her injured side. Sakura let a grunt out as the glove and pad were pulled off, since its crispy texture was brushing against her burnt marks. A hiss followed as the mizu bunshin started to mend the injury, starting from the bleeding point. While sitting there listening to the hum from the glowing green chakra, Sakura put aside the strange awkwardness that had arisen and spoke.

"How bad is it?"

"Not as severe as it appears, the gash looks like it was done from a sharp edge of a branch. It's deep, but it will be ok."

"Just hurry, please."

She was stunned when her mizu bunshin sighed at her in a scolding manner, "Then help by healing the wrist, and work your way up to me."

Sakura mentally slapped herself, and got started too. While healing, she couldn't help but let her mind drift, 'This really feels so strange having a conversation with myself.' "Naruto goes through this with hundreds of clones?" To her surprise, her mizu bunshin announced the topic. "Hehe, I know what you mean." she responded with a light chuckle, while refocussing.

The injury soon was healed, and she flexed her hand, "Thanks." She said out of habit, even though it was to herself she was saying it to.

Once done, she discarded her one remaining glove and stood up, 'I need to think, that thing will be here any minute.'

"We need to setup another trap like before."

She blinked at her mizu bunshin, yet again caught off guard by this new experience, "U-Umm..."

"I will be the diversion, when the moment comes, just try and reach for that thread to tear it apart. Give me some of your wire."

"U-Umm-"

This was becoming embarrassing and humiliating that her bunshin was thinking ahead of her still, "Ok." she mumbled dumbly, passing over a roll of wire, and then hid herself as the bunshin knelt down and bunched up the discarded gear.

.

Present time

.

Feeling a build up of rage, Kakuzu vented his annoyance by spinning around and bashing the tree Deidara was against, leaving a splinter launching crater around his fists outline, 'I will have to recollect my heart afterwards. It is not dead yet, but without being in range of me, it is nothing but a giant puppet without strings.'

Back with Sakura, she held the two broken ends of the thread before her, seeing the worm like threads desperately trying to rejoin. Not allowing them the chance, she threw one of the ends as far away as she could.

Upon its landing, almost in the manner of a snake, the thread slithered away into the forest as if being recalled. Dropping the other end, she turned to see the animal. Just as she expected would happen, after ripping apart the threaded cord, the beast had ceased all movement.

Cautiously approaching its front, she stared at the partly broken ceramic mask, still seeing wild threads sticking out of the cracks. Hesitantly raising her hand, she for a mere second touched the beast and jumped back in caution, but it didn't react.

Trying again now with less fear, she felt the strange texture with her hands, 'What the hell is this thing anyway?'

She wanted to examine it further, but then she suddenly remembered, 'Naruto!'

As she was doubling back, the adrenaline that had been keeping her going all this time had finally run out. Each step was heavy, but she continued dragging herself all the way, damning her shortness of breath and lack of stamina.

Finally returning, she pushed aside the bushes Naruto was behind and was grateful in seeing he didn't appear to have worsened in condition. Confirming it with her analysis jutsu, she then tried to lift him, only to find she no longer had the strength like earlier to carry him. Heaving his limp arm over her shoulders, she brought her other arm to wrap around his back, and decided to drag themselves down the small stream.

'I will play it safe and get us away from here...just in case whoever was controlling that creature retraces their steps.'

While dragging him away, despite her exhausted demeanour, or her anxiety to the question of if she actually was poisoned, a smile was able to form on her tired face. The warming and satisfying feeling baffled her, but she openly welcomed it.

'I did it. I protected him.'

After several minutes, she felt secure enough to stop and lower him, only upon placing him down, she barely balanced herself on her knees. She stared for a moment at the ground, that was beginning to go damp from the sweat raining off her face.

'I am near my limit...'

Balancing her nearly keeled over form with one trembling hand, she ducked into her weapon pouch and brought out a soldier pill.

She put it back nearly a second after bringing it out, 'No. I can't use them. Tsunade-sama told me just how dangerous it can be taking any drugs when you are poisoned by something unknown. They may actually speed up the poison's process, depending on how it works.'

Spending a moment to try and catch her breath, she brought both her hands over Naruto's chest, and got back to work, 'If I continue using my own chakra, I am probably going to faint from chakra exhaustion. I will have to use yours Naruto. '

The usual green glow morphed into turquoise, as Sakura brows furrowed, 'I have never seen him with such little chakra...but it still is more than what I have normally. Plus it seems as if he is replenishing it quite quickly.' Shaking away her drowsiness, she focussed harder, as the glow intensified, along with her determination to get her teammate back to being in good health.

Only Sakura was so focused on Naruto, she didn't notice the two emotionless onyx eyes there were watching her from not far.

'Sakura...'

"And now it ends, cousin."

'Clang!'

Itachi's sword was aimed for impaling Ronan's head, but at the very last moment, defying all odds, Ronan brought up his kunai, making the sword change its course to miss. Taking advantage of the surprise, Ronan bolted from his crouched position up at Itachi, revealing that his left blood tearing eye had lost its vibrant and powerful red glow.

"I TOLD YOU WE ARE NOT COUSINS, TRAITOR!"

Retracting his sword, Itachi parried the kunai, but Ronan was not backing out of continuing on the offense. Itachi quickly gained the upper hand because of Ronan's significantly dropped dexterity, and went for a sweep across Ronan's abdomen with the legendary sword. Before steel could meet flesh, Itachi's sharingan noticed an anomaly of chakra warping around himself.

His sharp eye then spotted the blood running down Ronan's right eye, as the half dead Uchiha disappeared before him, 'This is Enju.'

Itachi mused, but despite Ronan's speed, Itachi's sharingan could still track him, 'Ronan must be fighting on willpower alone...his speed and reflexes have dropped severely.'

Deciding to continue engaging within the field, Itachi in a blur kept blocking the incoming attempts to cut him. After several exchanges, Itachi's eye twitched to a sudden jolt of pain from a kunai jabbing into his sword wielding arm. His hand loosened its grip for only a second, but within this jutsu, that was all the time Ronan needed.

Now the tables had turned, and Itachi was evading his own sword as if his life depended on it.

Itachi's eye widened a fraction when the sword barely missed his shoulder, but had just sliced through his cloak.

Ronan's figure now was clearly visible, as the Uchiha readied to dive in again, "It's over Itachi!"

During the near split second pause in the assault, both of Itachi's eyes closed, 'You have forced me to use this, Ronan.'

Just as the Totsuka was about to sever Itachi's body in half, Ronan suddenly was sent flying away as if he had just bounced off of something. It effectively sent Ronan to the other side of the crater before crash landing, with the sword still in his hand's grasp.

When he finally looked up to see what he had hit, he joined the Konoha group in their agape shock, 'Oh my god...'

Something gigantic was now starting to morph around Itachi in a semi transparent, blinding red tone. At the moment all that could be seen was the top half of a type of spiritual being that appeared to have human characteristics. The spirit appeared to be nothing but bones in structure at first. As it continued to develop, it then formed armour that looked like an ancient samurai warrior's attire, with its man sized yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of where the long nosed helmet rested.

Standing within the great spirit was Itachi, who had both of his mangekyou eyes open.

"K-Kakashi-...-w-what the-..."

"I don't know Shikamaru...but it's nothing I have ever seen before." Kakashi answered Shikamaru's stumbled question dumbly, as his eyes were literally glued on Itachi.

Ronan finally clenched his jaw shut, "This spiritual being and feeling...Susanoo. How can a traitor like you be blessed by something only one in thousands of Uchiha have ever been able to achieve?!"

Itachi's lack of response made Ronan snap, as he pierced the Totsuka blade into the ground, and slapped his hands together to form a seal.

Kakashi's lone bulging eye couldn't get any wider as Ronan's wincing left eye was dripping blood, 'Has he lost his mind?! If he keeps forcing the mangekyou after so many uses-!'

Kakashi's mind froze as a vortex began to enwrap all around Itachi and the Susanoo, all pointing to the familiar signs of a Kamui forming. Only Itachi was not moving for some reason, so Ronan took the opportunity with open arms.

"I WILL NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE YOU BEING THIS STRONG!"

The vortex began to spin wildly, with Itachi becoming nothing but a red smudge in plain view. Suddenly there was this ear drum bursting high pitched screech, as a tremendous gust of wind blew out from where Itachi stood. A near sun bright white light now flashed over the vortex, and as it dimmed, the Kamui suddenly was no longer present.

Ronan's blood shot twitching left eye showed his pure disbelief, 'W-What did he do!?!'

There was something different about the spirit protecting Itachi now. It had wielded in its left hand a great flame patterned shield, that easily was larger than the top half only visible Susanoo.

Kakashi's mouth hung so wide, the tracing of his mouth could be seen clearly through his mask, "The Yata no Kagami...The Eight Span Mirror...Itachi has not one, but two legendary artefacts?!"

Lee voiced the others staggered question, "W-What does that shield do?"

"It is in legend that the shield is capable of cancelling and even reflecting back any attack thrown against it, both physical, and jutsu wise. That must have been what sent Ronan flying back that time he almost stabbed Itachi with the Totsuka, only Itachi kept it hidden in anticipation of Ronan doing another mangekyou ability. As long as Itachi has that shield in front of him...he is invulnerable!"

Ronan violently rubbed his eye, and went to reach for the sword, 'He is only impenetrable from the front! I just have to get behi-...'

Ronan's thoughts drifted off into an echoed silence, as all of a sudden, his entire body twitched as if something inside had just shut down. Itachi did not react as Ronan suddenly lifelessly collapsed head first into the ground.

'...You used the mangekyou far too recklessly Ronan. Your anger blinded your sense of comprehension, and you continued to use them even when your body was beyond its limit.'

Ronan's dull eyes still remain opened, as his vision began to blur, 'Comrades...Araiki...The conclusion to our long quest now has reached an end. For dragging you all down with me in my blind anger, I will never ask for your forgiveness, I don't deserve any compassion.'

Another pulse ran throughout his body, as the small glint of life left in his eyes, slowly faded, 'Fallen cousins...I could not avenge you for your slaughter, but have faith. Deep down I know...Sasuke will restore the Uchiha's honour and name.'

With a deep exhale, Ronan's eyes closed, and never reopened.

'And so it now ends...'

For the first time in minutes, Kakashi allowed his stinging eye to blink, "It is over..."

Itachi was thinking the same, as he closed his eyes for a moment, causing the spirit around him to fade away. Opening them revealed his emotionless onyx eyes, as he paced himself in walking over the distance to Ronan. Now standing over him, Itachi knelt down and checked for a pulse.

Itachi felt no beat against the blood covered skin.

Shutting his eyes as if in respect, Itachi guided his hand to pick up the Totsuka sword. Standing, Itachi held the edge of the blade over Ronan's corpse.

The gesture made Shikamaru choke, "Surely he wouldn't be so cruel, the guy is already dead!"

Despite Shikamaru's disapproval, Itachi's eyes showed he was considering sealing the corpse in an everlasting genjutsu.

Kakashi had seen enough when Itachi began to raise the sword, and flung up his forehead protector, revealing his sharingan, 'My sharingan has recovered at last.' The sound of a Raikiri forming made the others see Kakashi's intentions, and they partly agreed.

Enemy or not, this was going way too far.

Readying themselves, the group was about to head down, but Kakashi's sudden gasp halted them all in their tracks. Kakashi's eyes showed shock, as the Raikiri began to die down.

"W-What is it Kakashi?" Shikamaru asked, but Shino pointed his finger back at the crater.

"Look."

Shikamaru turned back in time to see the body of Ronan almost in a liquid like fashion, be pulled into the blade that now impaled his torso, and then there was a great sparkle from the sword. The only evidence left of the Uchiha's existence was a blood stain. Kakashi still hadn't snapped out of his paralysing posture, with his eyes showing his confusion. With his sharingan visible, he was able to see something the others missed.

Itachi's lips moving before he stabbed Ronan.

' 'Forgive me Ronan...I cannot allow your eyes to fall into "his" hands'?!'

Not suffering from the same bafflement, Shikamaru thought up a plan, "Lee, Shino, we are going to capture Itachi. Maybe we can get information out of him about Akatsuk-"

"Do not bother." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Kakashi's flat interrupting response, and then Shino again spoke up.

"He already has gone."

Widening his eyes, he shot his gaze down into the great crater to see nothing. Itachi had disappeared just as mysteriously as he had arrived. While gaping in perplexity as to how Itachi had vanished, a squawk from above got Lee to look up to see Ronan's hawk circling.

Swooping around once more, the bird then flew away towards the direction of the falling sun, soon blurring out of sight.

Meanwhile...

Now out of clear sight from the hunter-nin, Jiraiya embedded the tip of Ryujin into the ground, and formed a seal. Soon after the seal was formed, his hair began to shrink back to its normal size, along with the warts flattening out. Within a moments time, he had now returned to his normal self.

Dropping his seal, he then stumbled as he suddenly felt brick like heavy, 'I forgot just how much of a kick sage mode brings once it's deactivated.' While gasping for air, Shima and Fukusaku detached themselves from his shoulders. Fukusaku balanced himself on the swords hilt, while Shima scrutinised it from the ground.

Shima and Fukusaku both were in awe, "Tau-chan..."

"Yeah, the amount of senjutsu chakra bein' built up in this thing is truly unheard of."

"Any idea- what would have happened if he had been given the chance to finish the-the build up." Jiraiya asked, while trying to catch his breath.

Fukusaku shrugged, "I really don' have a clue Jiraiya-chan, but with the amount of senjutsu chakra we are sensin' within it...it would have been extremely chaotic for it all to suddenly release. We should be grateful he was not a true senjutsu user...this sword in tha hands of one possessing monstrous amounts of chakra would be frightening."

"You mean to say this sword tops even the Samehada?"

"Samehada? tha one wielded by that Hoshigaki Kisame fellow?"

Nodding to the question, Fukusaku answered Jiraiya by shaking his head, "That is most likely the only blade that could easily defeat this one in a sword duel. Remember Jiraiya-chan, the Samehada is a demon in itself, suffering from an insatiable hunger for consuming chakra...not even a Bijuu level of chakra will satisfy it. The senjutsu chakra Ryujin would be trying to form would be absorbed with every parry...the Samehada bests this one."

"Hmm. I guess that explains why Kisame was known as the strongest of the seven when they were formed." Now mostly recovered from his state, Jiraiya focussed on finding the others.

Upon seeing the group not far, he began running, "You two rest now, thanks for the help."

"Don' mention it Kiddo, drop on by for dinner some time." With that, the two elder toads and the giant blade 'poofed' away.

Trying hard to flush out those horrible images of Shima's 'praised' cooked meals from his head, Jiraiya caught up to the others.

When he was within eye sight, he was greeted by Kakashi turning his head, "Mangetsu?"

"Dead. A Kiri hunter-nin is now seeing to disposing his body...Ronan?"

Looking into the crater to not see a soul, Jiraiya took a guess before someone could answer him, "Itachi killed him, didn't he?"

"Ah, although Ronan basically killed himself from overusing the mangekyou sharingan, Itachi made sure there was no means of him returning."

"So even an Uchiha feels the ill effects of overusing the sharingan as you do."

"Indeed...but I am nowhere near being able to use my sharingan to the level and amount that we just witnessed. I nearly faint after using 'it' once, Ronan used his a total of four times, and I never saw what happened in Naruto's fight. I am certain he discovered their abilities in the midst of it, so maybe five or even six times."

Looking over the scarecrow's shoulder, he saw the state of the others. Shino was with his two still unconscious teammates, looking at them with what Jiraiya guessed was concern behind those goggles. Shikamaru was trying to speak to Akamaru about finding someone, and then there was Lee. Lee still was staring off at nowhere, appearing to be in deep thought, although his face also held one of great shame.

"What happened to them Kakashi?"

"...They tried to help Naruto before Itachi arrived, a lone Akatsuki member by the name of Kakuzu singlehandedly stopped them."

Nodding his head in understanding, Jiraiya now looked around to find the other two, "Where is Naruto and Sakura?"

"That is what Shikamaru is trying to find out."

"Why of all times is Kiba knocked out? Err- you do understand what I am telling you to do, right Akamaru?"

The loud bark in his face only made the Nara groan, "I have no idea if that is a yes or a no."

"That is a yes."

Shikamaru shot his gaze in surprise to Shino, who still hadn't taken his eyes off his teammates, "Why do I know this, it's because in time you begin to understand the meaning to some of Akamaru's gestures."

The dog then let out two more barks, and Shino began to lift up Kiba, "He has their scent, and my male bugs have also picked up the trail of the female bug on Sakura as well. Naruto's bug got burnt when the Kyuubi took over-..."

"What else is there?"

"My bugs are also reporting...that Deidara is close by."

"What?! Where!?" Kakashi this time asked, while Shino balanced Kiba so he could point.

"Right within the forest we need to go."

"Do you know if he is preparing another bomb, or why he is there?"

"I do not know Kakashi-sensei, but I know he is there."

Gritting his teeth, the Nara shook his head, "We will go a longer route and stay away from him then, in our state, the last thing we need is that maniac throwing more explosives our way...I think this day has been troublesome enough as is."

Now alone with no sound but the strong wind blowing against his back, the hunter-nin rolled up his scroll, 'All that is required as proof that Mangetsu has been killed is bringing back his head, which I have now sealed into the scroll. I will have to explain to Mizukage-sama about the sannin unwilling to hand over Ryujin.'

Standing, the hunter-nin ran through seals, as his hands began to wildly spark with hot electricity, which soon set the swordsman's corpse alight. Used to this grotesque job, the hunter-nin watched until the corpse was nothing but a pile of hot ash.

While doing so, the hunter-nin reached for a kunai, and span around.

He was met with oddly coloured eyes that belonged to a man that had hideous stitches all over his body, "What luck, a Raiton user...I will be taking your heart, along with Mangetsu's head too."

The red tone of the sky was beginning to weaken as nightly blue was overwhelming it, casting great shadows all throughout the forest.

Walking out of one of the near pitch black shadows was Itachi.

Halting in his journey, Itachi glanced back as if he could still see the crater he had left behind from where he stood. He could still remember Ronan's angry and unforgiving face from after he had showed him everything that happened between the Uchiha clan and Konoha, and those words that concluded where Ronan stood on the matter.

'...YOU CHOSE THEM OVER US!'

Hearing those words echo, Itachi turned and continued walking away, until upon the next step, he felt a surge up of pain and brought up his hand to use a tree next to him as support.

Staring down at the grass, Itachi began to feel his chest throb, which began to happen in violent waves, as he unconsciously rose a hand to rest against it.

'Being forced to use Susanoo has caused my illness to surface due to the instant side effects it does to the mortal body.' Before it could get any worse, Itachi's eyes rose for a moment as they became aware of a presence nearby.

Slipping a hand into his cloak, he brought out a large green and white coloured capsule, and swallowed it, 'I will have to subdue it for now.'

Ignoring the stinging pain, the Uchiha stood upright as if nothing was happening internally, as the drugs began to kick in and it no longer was forced. Now walking at full speed, Itachi kept venturing deeper and deeper into the forest, while his senses were now picking up the presence closing in.

Once Itachi had confirmed who it was, he stopped, 'So my suspicion was correct, it really is you...'

Used to the sensation of having murderous intent flickering his way, Itachi did not so much as flinch from the sub zero change in temperature, nor did the sudden heavy atmosphere bother him. Closing his eyes, and then reopening them to reveal his three tomoe sharingan, he now decided to address the person he knew was glaring at his back.

"We meet again...Sasuke."

"...Itachi." Said little brother growled from several meters behind Itachi.

Sasuke's angered face was burning into the Akatsuki member's back, while his sharingan eyes were glowing with deep hatred and desire to tear the man apart.

Despite the intentions practically radiating off of Sasuke's face, his hand remained by his side, albeit reluctantly.

Itachi still had not turned to acknowledge his brothers presence, as they just stood there in the heavy and silent atmosphere.

After what felt like minutes, Itachi decided to speak, "You still do not have the same eyes as me."

It was as if asking why Sasuke was here, but even so, those words made Sasuke's face twitch with rage, "I did not come here to kill you...yet."

"'Yet'?"

'Karin told me she suddenly sensed chakra similar to mine appear. I left without even saying a word to Orochimaru, and he just let me leave.'

"So now I see why you have come." Itachi stated flatly.

Sasuke felt his clenched fist begin to tremble, but he persisted, "The one who shall avenge my clan is me, and only me. Nobody, not even another survivor of the clan's slaughter has more right than I do to avenge them."

Itachi responded with a 'Hmmph' and then finally turned to meet his brothers glare with his neutral expression, "If you say you came here to assure Ronan didn't do your 'ambition', then tell me...why is it you have decided to come before me?"

It happened so fast, Itachi's eyes hadn't even risen in surprise when Sasuke shot from his spot towards him, with a chidori forming in his hand. Not moving, Itachi at the last moment grabbed Sasuke's wrist, aiming the deadly jutsu away from him.

It was too much the same as that time, Sasuke even had the same shocked expression he wore from back then.

"Foolish little brother...you still blindly charge towards me, when you should know that a frontal attack do-!?"

Itachi's scolding words were cut off with a harsh cough as an electrified hand burst through his chest from behind, sending wild sparks of electricity bouncing against his body. Staring at it still frozen in semi shock, Itachi felt the hand he had grabbed phase away, as while looking at the blinding blue light, he recognised the hand as Sasuke's.

'The one in front of me was from a sharingan genjutsu?'

"You honestly didn't think I had learnt from before, you filthy bastard Itachi!?" Sasuke roared from behind him. Tilting his head to see it really was Sasuke, Itachi could just make out the curse seal plaguing over his brothers skin.

Closing his eye dismissively, Itachi spoke surprisingly very normally, "It appears you have gotten stronger..." Sasuke's eyes widened as his vision was blinded by crows, and as the flock cleared, he once again was back in the position where Itachi had grabbed his wrist.

Itachi's still solid death like grip on his wrist pulled him out of his shock, "However, you still are not worth the bother to kill. You are still wea-"

Itachi was suddenly forced to let go as a giant snake slithered out in a blur from under Sasuke's sleeve, and tried to dig it's fangs into him. Now outside of the range of the snake, Itachi watched as it recalled and disappeared within Sasuke's sleeve. Sasuke's curse seal was still covering all of his body, as his murderous intent filled eyes wouldn't leave his own emotionless gaze.

"I will make you eat those words Itachi!"

Reaching for his sword, Sasuke began to unsheathe it, but then suddenly froze. Itachi watched his brother suddenly change emotions, as the curse seal began to recall to its marking on the side of his neck.

Now fully recalled, Sasuke made Itachi's eyes partially widen for a moment when he defied all odds, and suddenly calmed, "But not today."

'I have used up too much stamina practicing my new jutsu, and I am yet to perfect it...fighting Itachi now will just be a wasted effort. I need to be at my full to defeat him.'

Even though his thoughts were perfectly logical, Sasuke still felt that burning itch on his neck practically begging him to reconsider.

It made his next words show his conflicted will clear, along with the strain of speaking words that tasted unbelievably fowl in his mouth, "I...am not prepared to kill you yet."

Itachi's facade nearly broke, but only a twitch of his right eye escaped, "It would also appear you have learnt to stifle your childish and pitiful emotions to think rationally as well. Interesting."

When Itachi turned his back to Sasuke, the younger Uchiha only watched, despite his restless hands trembling, along with the great desire to act.

After taking two steps, Itachi then stopped, "Until you have the same eyes as me, do not waste my time."

Blinking, Sasuke's eyes flickered once again to outrage, but he grinded his teeth together to vent. Not hearing anything from his little brother after several seconds, Itachi was about to leave, until Sasuke abruptly shouted.

"I do not need the mangekyou sharingan to defeat you, my eyes are better than yours ever will be! When the time is right Itachi, I will demonstrate to you just how much stronger my eyes are!"

Itachi only stared at the path ahead of him, while the corner of his mouth ever so slightly, pointed upwards, "I was gravely mistaken...you have not learnt to control your emotions at all. You still talk arrogantly big. I pray they are more than just words next time."

Not waiting for Sasuke to respond, he shunshined away, leaving Sasuke alone with nothing but the howling wind to talk to. With Itachi gone, Sasuke finally felt his muscles at ease, as he turned the opposite direction and walked away.

"We are leaving, Karin."

Revealing herself, Karin adjusted her specs with a scowl worn on her face, "After making me come all the way out here, away from Orochimaru-sama, you change your mind and let him go. What are you, a bipolar child?"

'THAT WAS SO COOL SASUKE!'

Sasuke didn't reply to her fake scold, and continued walking away, each step getting easier to resist the urge to spin around, "Where is Orochimaru?"

"Hmmph, he is to our four o'clock, around several kilometres away. But he is heading our way, it's like he knows exactly where you are."

Sasuke still was not responding to her, as he changed his course to meet Orochimaru half way. While they were travelling, Karin's eye flickered in memory, 'Our trip here was not all that hard, and it went mostly without incident, except...'

"By the way Sasuke-..."

'When Sasuke suddenly told me to keep myself concealed, as he went in 'their' direction.'

When Karin's voice trailed off, this time Sasuke turned to look at her, "What is it."

"...Everything that she had said Sasuke...she spoke it from the heart. I can tell when somebody is lying even the slightest, but not one word she said was such the case."

Narrowing his eyes as if knowing what Karin was talking about, he dismissed the topic and continued, "I don't care...neither of them will be a concern to me anymore."

'The bonds now truly are severed.'

AN : I cant quite put my finger on it, but i am not happy with this chapter. What do you think?

I feel I rushed it, but carrying on the fights on any further would have been pushing it.

Sasuke: I hope you see what really was happening there before saying he was out of character. I think after last time he blindly charged Itachi with a chidori, he would know better as to when he is ready or not, no? Why he tried at first anyway? I again fallback on what we saw happen to the soft Juugo whenever the curse seal influenced him, turning him into a merciless short tempered monster.

As for what happened between him, Naruto and Sakura...well, you will have to wait for the next chapter :P