So… I guess you can consider this your Christmas present? (Don't kill me!) In my absence, my style has probably changed, along with my main fandom. I'm not a Narutard anymore. But I will try to finish this story before I move on to Hetalia fan fiction. I'm thinking there will be another 3-4 chapters of this.

Chapter 27- Action

Still, there had been no indication of Naruto and Jiraiya breaking our current stalemate. But, they would have to eventually. They couldn't very well live out the rest of their lives here.

In the meantime, Sasuke had continued pestering me about checking my eyes. To be honest, I was curious about the fungus, but I made him wait until evening. We would be able to move to a safe and private place to carry out the diagnosis more easily, under the cover of darkness.

As we shifted to a covered position on the ground, Kisame moved to sit in the branches of a tall tree. Occasionally he looked back at us, questioningly. I sat with my legs crossed, in front of my brother. He sat on his knees in order to be able to comfortably reach my eyes. I dully reflected that it wouldn't be long before he was as tall as I was.

After only a few moments, he removed his chakra from my system. "I'm pretty sure it's the fungus that's making you go blind. But I'm still not entirely sure where it came from…" He evaluated.

I nodded slightly, digesting this information.

"I don't suppose you'll have a spare six months to go on an IV any time soon?" Sasuke asked optimistically, rubbing his own eyes tiredly.

"I think not." I replied, pulling his hands away from his face. "Rubbing just makes it worse." I reminded him.

Sasuke just nodded. I couldn't know whether it was an acceptance of my reminder, or a signal that he had expected me to say as much.

Suddenly, Kisame interrupted us, "They're making a break for it. Should we chase?"

"Yes, the sooner we have the nine-tails, the sooner we can leave." I replied, surprising both of them. Quite frankly, I'd had enough of mission life. Moreover, it wasn't likely the situation was going to improve, not with Jiraiya being there every second of the day.

My brother looked apprehensive, but he followed Kisame and I as we moved out, anyway.

"What is it?" I asked of him, trusting Kisame to lead us for now. I had to gauge the likelihood of my brother fighting against us, rather than with us.

He simply shook his head and looked away, chewing on his lower lip.

I had seen this reaction before, in our days of childhood. "You feel guilty." I stated, rather than questioned.

"Of course I do!" He snapped suddenly, looking anywhere but at me. "Being responsible for the death of one of the few who actually tried to befriend you. It's not exactly a warm and fuzzy feeling, you know. "

"Yes," I replied, "I do know. I'm sorry you have to experience such a thing. While I can empathise, I find it impossible to sympathise. If you're going to be more hindrance than help, it would be better if you left the battle now. I can meet you at the North Gate of Tanzaku later."

He looked up at me in surprise before firmly answering, "No, I'll help… If he's my only friend, does that mean he's my best friend? I suppose this will lead to the Mangekyo…"

I had not thought of this possibility before now. Perhaps the activation of the Mangekyo was purely psychological. Perhaps there would be no need to facilitate the Akatsuki's plans. If I just had Sasuke think Naruto died because of his actions… I doubted the Mangekyo could retract once Sasuke discovered the truth.

"In that case, you should be the one to distract Naruto, whilst Kisame and I take care of Jiraiya. You don't have to fight him, just make sure he doesn't intervene with nine-tails' power."

My brother nodded, his mouth forming a grimly determined line.

I increased my pace a little, in order to catch up to Kisame. "Sasuke will handle the bijuu. For now, we need to eliminate Jiraiya, which will be no simple task."

"He's heading towards water… This one summons frogs, right? I would expect those, along with water element jutsu."

Again, I didn't ask how he knew the exact location of nearby water. It had saved us from needing to drink our own urine to survive on more than one occasion, so I was definitely glad he had the ability. "That is to your advantage, but not so much to mine." I conceded. "Perhaps we'll have an advantage if this means he's underestimating you. Even so, I can attempt to distract with genjutsu, but I doubt many of my katon techniques will get through."

Kisame snickered, "You might get a few seconds of advantage if you turn into a girl again."

"Perhaps. But I'm sure we'd gain at least a whole minute if you appeared as a female." I replied dryly.

He would probably have continued that banter if we hadn't reached the vicinity of the river at that point. I halted at the base of a tree using its wide trunk and the surrounding plant life for cover.

I cast a complex genjutsu over the area. It caused our foes to see us lurking behind every tree in our surroundings. Its effect was somewhat like the clone jutsu, but rather more conservative, chakra-wise.

Unbeknownst to Sasuke, I also set up a genjutsu, which would cause him to see Naruto die. Even if, in reality, he would have either passed out or escaped.

I nodded to Kisame, signaling I was ready. He made several hand signs, causing the water to swell irregularly. The current made both Naruto and Jiraiya lose their balance, but they had indeed been sitting in wait. Toads, frogs, large and small began closing in from all directions. Yet more waited in the water.

I nodded towards Sasuke, who ran out of cover, yelling to Naruto, "You have to get out of here!"

Jiraiya hesitated, not attacking my younger brother, who promptly took this opportunity to grab Naruto's wrist and drag him out of the water. Once they were gone, Naruto yelling something loudly about supporting Jiraiya and triumphing over evil, Kisame's artificial current increased in size and strength.

Whilst Jiraiya's small army of toads looked intimidating, I found they were easily dispersed with a well-placed explosive tag. Once the smoke from their disappearance had cleared, there was only one left to worry about. It occurred to me that this smoke screen was probably meant to separate Sasuke from Kisame and I. Well, it was too late for that now. I hoped my brother wasn't doing anything foolish right now…

When I decide what will actually happen next I will post. I promise. Tell me, has my writing style changed too much? Is everyone still in character?

Anonymous Reviewers (even if you've all probably given up on this story by now):

Brock: Thanks, hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

HinaWeasel: Glad you like it. I promised I would update and here it is, perhaps a little later than usual... ...

Cherry: Yes, it is wonderful :) Glad you like the stories.