Jiraiya crouched on a piece of rubble above them, saying "You say that you have no drive or ambitions but…" he shook his head and continued firmly "Ryu, the experiences that you've had with the people around you in this life, from all those years… No matter what your goals were at the beginning, there's always things to protect. After you achieve your dream, there's always something else to achieve."
He pointed at Sasuke and said "Whether it's family, friends, or a place… People and places are affected by your death, no matter who you are. Your dream… I bet that it's not to fight and die, but to fight and win, right? To reach the height of your life in a single moment and live on. Your care and love for Naruto and Sasuke are only proof of this!"
Ryu looked at Sasuke as the rain fell on his face, Jiraiya shook his head, saying sincerely "If you feel that you have no goals after your dream comes true, then make a new one! You love the village and you love all your friends and family, your plan and words are only an excuse for your selfishness! Wake up!"
Ryu looked at Sasuke and said suddenly "You know… it was raining when Sasuke left the first time. He went through so much pain, his entire life was just an illusion created by me and Itachi for his own sake… I told myself that it was all for the end goal, but…"
His eyes watered and he continued "I met someone who told me my future. That person looked so sad." he looked up at the rain and smiled, "He looked at me with the saddest expression I had ever seen. At that time, I smiled and told him that I was happy with that, but…"
Ryu laughed at himself, as tears rolled down his cheeks, "Seeing that person's tears really made me hate myself. The goal I have is the only reason for that person's pain. It's all because of my selfish desires… But what can I do? Everything is on a predestined path, if it's not me then it will be someone else. I lied to that person that everything would be okay."
He turned to Jiraiya and cried "But, you know, nothing is okay… Everything I've done will make the people I love hate me, so I can only die." Jiraiya looked at him and rested his chin on his knees, "That's not true. Bringing your sins and hatred to the grave doesn't get rid of the problem. Only by living can we atone for our sins."
Ryu looked back down at Sasuke and said "Yeah?" Jiraiya smiled and nodded "So you have a new goal now." Ryu looked back at him and Jiraiya said simply "You have to win!"
Ryu slowly turned back to Sasuke and said softly "You know, Jiraiya… I really hate the rain." Jiraiya smiled and snorted from his nose, "Yeah… Me too, kid. Me too…"
A while later
Sasuke woke up surrounded by his teammates.
Ryu was nowhere to be seen.
Far away~
Ryu laid Itachi down on the ground and put a captured S-class Missing-Nin next to him. He sealed quickly and pressed his palms on the captured Missing-nin and Itachi's corpse.
Jiraiya watched with confusion as the Missing-nin started struggling while green energy was flowing out of his body through Ryu's arm and into Itachi's body!
Ryu put a Senzu Bean in Itachi's mouth as the green energy flowed into his body, spreading under his skin and into his blood, all over him.
Itachi's mouth twitched and Jiraiya froze as he stared at him.
Ryu bit his tongue and spit on a prepared seal on the ground, whistling at the same time.
A crow appeared with 2 sharingan in its eyes.
Ryu put the eyes into Itachi's eye sockets before slapping on the missing-nin's head. The body shriveled up like a dry prune and a massive amount of green energy flowed through Ryu's body into Itachi and Shisui's eyes, covering him in an entirely green light!
Ryu sat down and took a breath, wiping his sweat as he sealed one more time, saying "Rise!"
The green light exploded into particles and submerged into Itachi, making his pale face rosy again. Jiraiya felt his hair stand up as Itachi opened his eyes and slowly sat up, clearly coming back to life!
The missing-nin's corpse suddenly turned to dust and disappeared with the wind as Itachi looked at Ryu in confusion, "Why am I alive?" Jiraiya pointed at his face and shouted "Really! I want to know too! How did you bring him back from the dead!?"
Itachi was shocked and looked at Ryu, asking in shock "You brought me back from the dead!? What the hell!" Ryu coughed and said "I made a new jutsu, nothing to worry about…"
Jiraiya nearly kicked him in the face, shouting "Nothing to worry about!? Are you crazy?! You made a Jutsu to bring dead people back to life!" Ryu coughed again, wiping the corner of his lips and swallowing a Senzu bean as he said "Only recently dead. Or I guess Impure World Reincarnations could work… I don't know, didn't try it."
Itachi touched his eyes and said "My eyes? No… Shisui!?" Ryu nodded and said "One of the perks of my jutsu… Extracting the lifeforce of another person can heal, merge, etc But it costs a lot… This missing-nin had his entire life extracted- Eh? Where did he go?"
Jiraiya said flatly "Destroyed, reduced to atoms…"
Ryu looked at him in shock, saying "Oh wow…" before turning to Itachi and saying "Anyway, Sasuke has Eternal Mangekyou now. And you are 'dead', congratulations."
Itachi coughed and looked at Ryu angrily "I wanted to die, why did you bring me back?" Ryu stood up and said slowly "Because…" His face changed and he glanced at Jiraiya, turning away as he continued "Only by living can we atone for our sins."
Itachi looked at Ryu's back and then down at the ground silently.
Jiraiya paused and smiled slightly, muttering inwardly "These Uchiha are all the same… What a bunch of passionate guys…"
Itachi stood up and said "So what now?" Ryu looked at the sky as the clouds cleared up.
"Let's go home."
A few days later