[thread]

[pogromanate]

Who: Itachi & everyone mentioned here
Where: Uchiha estate
When: fffff June 9th, around 7pm?
Summary: It's Itachi's birthday...
Rating: R?
Other: Yosuke you idiot -- also, tag when you can etc etc

Comments

[incarnadines]

At long last, the day he'd been waiting for. In his mind he had replayed this scene a thousand times, from hundreds of camera angles, with dozens of different scripts, but it always ended the same: with Itachi dead, Izuna's eyes in Madara's hands, and his glory restored.

Good fortune had only made this day even better, placing Sasuke at his side and with Itachi's little friend Yosuke providing him the perfect excuse to have everyone Itachi held dearest all gathered together in one small space. So convenient. So easy to massacre. And there was something nostalgic about that. It drew a sigh from Madara's lips.

When they stood before Itachi's mansion, Madara turned to Sasuke. "Before we enter, there's something I must confess," he said, solemn in his delivery. "You're no fool, Sasuke. You know we aren't here for a birthday party. Let me tell you why. I swore that I would eventually, that day I took you on as my student. You're ready now. With my help at least, you're ready for this.

"You see, we've reached the home of the man who killed your family." And that was all he had to say on it. His dark eyes had already changed to crimson, and now he regarded the boy in silent question. He wasn't going to issue an order. He wouldn't say to Sasuke, Go and seek your revenge. Because Sasuke didn't need his order or his permission. The hate in his heart would surely settle the matter.

[emonojutsu]

Sasuke had wondered what this was about. It was apparent before they'd even left, that they weren't going to Itachi's for a party. So when Madara stopped outside the man's door, turned to Sasuke, and dropped that little bomb, Sasuke wished he could have said he was ready for it.

But the truth was, he wasn't. He wasn't at all prepared. Strange as his relationship with Itachi was--and filled with such a weird mix of admiration and resentment and the desire for acknowledgment--he hadn't hated the man (except for those few moments, sometimes, when looking at Itachi filled him with blinding rage that choked him) but the revelation of what Itachi was... who he was, in regards to Sasuke's past, left the teenager stunned and staring for a moment, mouth slightly open, eyes dilated, unfocused as he attempted to process what Madara had just told him.

Slowly, his ears ringing, his chest tight and agonizingly painful with too many emotions--but mostly rage, furious, stormy, unadulterated hate--Sasuke focused on Madara, blinking rapidly, eyes wide, red, the floral pattern of the mangekyou vivid. He didn't need to be told, the grinding of his teeth, the audible crunch of it, was answer enough for Madara. He just... Nodded. Once, and opened the door, hand shaking with surpressed rage as he stepped into the house.

His expression was blank, as he walked into the room, no indicaction of what he intended, but it was instantaneous, the way he threw himself at Itachi--no hesitation now, no clumsy fumbling or faltered movements, everything was clear--a lightning crackle around his fist as he moved at inhuman speed.

[lazyish]

Something in the air changed, almost a split second before the door even burst open. Maybe it was just the sound, or a sudden spike of chakra around them. Shikamaru was suddenly on alert. And he was ready. Even as Sasuke came flying into the room with that shrieking fist full of electricity, Shikamaru was rushing forward to meet the threat halfway. He put himself between Itachi and his attacker, making a shield of himself without stopping to question it. Itachi was often a cruel teacher, but he was still Shikamaru's sensei. Shikamaru would defend him without hesitation.

Surprise flickered across Shikamaru's features briefly when he registered that the would-be assassin really was Sasuke. "What the hell are you doing?!" he couldn't help but shout as he twisted his body. Couldn't let that attack hit him. Shikamaru had trained with Sasuke plenty before. That sparking hand could impale him straight through the chest. So instead he spun into a kick, aimed low to throw Sasuke back before his fist could reach Shikamaru's heart.

...Hopefully.

[waitingfora]

Just as he was about to break into song; it felt like only a few seconds had past from when the first note came out and suddenly there was some fight on his hands. "What the hell?!" The question was echoed shortly after Shika - his eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and fear. Someone had actually come to kill Itachi at this party? Didn't that sort of thing only happen in the movies? He was even more surprised to see that it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke, what--?!" They weren't close friends, or anything like that, but this seemed so out-of-character. Questions later! Actions now.

Yet, even as he thought this, he was hurrying the short distance to where Shika and Sasuke were. Funny, it wasn't particularly far from where he was, but it felt like he wasn't going to get there in time. All the while yelling something along the lines at Nill to get down; not like she needed to be told. "Just, just, hang with Uchiha-sama!" Maybe, maybe, this was all just some huge prank. If it was, he would just tell the other teen to settle down. But the whole air, the atmosphere, it felt … serious. Just what was going on!?

Without really thinking, going purely on instinct, he had raised his fist to slug Sasuke in the jaw. Just trying to literally knock some sense into the guy. But he had no real formal training - didn't know how to brace himself or his hand. Probably would end up breaking a finger after impact, if he actually somehow miraculously landed the hit. But he just was suddenly afraid and needing to feel a little proactive, without understanding why.

[silencedbird]

She didn’t fully understand the situation, not really, but how could she? In the world that Nill had seen, people didn’t attack each other for no reason, didn’t come up with sparking hands-which should’ve have been possibly, she knew, because it would hurt quite a bit, and wasn’t that boy in pain because of it?-in the middle of parties to ruin everything. At first, for a few seconds, she had thought that maybe it was some kind of trick, another surprise for Itachi that she hadn’t been aware of, but Shikamaru had moved to fast for her to see it in time and Yosuke was shouting at her to get down, to hide, and that meant that something had gone very wrong, something that none of them had planned, and it could end badly.

She hesitated for a moment, looked at Kazama and Itachi, so clearly very lost and confused, before ducking down behind the couch once more, hands protectively covering her head and wings folding in against her back-though that was more of a protection instinct, left over from her last little ‘run in with danger.’ It wasn’t that she wanted to protect herself and leave everything to her two senpai, but the petit girl was well aware that outside of running she had little to no real physical strength or capabilities whatsoever, and trying to help-even if this whole thing was just some kind of mistake or prank, or misunderstanding (though she doubted it; the... the anger in the air was too real)-would only cause problems. She’d just get in the way. Trying to keep herself safe and out of the way like this was the best thing that she could do to help-though she did peek up from behind the couch, just a little.

[emonojutsu]

Sasuke flung himself back--partly to avoid the kick, but mainly to keep from impaling Shikamaru on his arm. He was half-mad with anger and conflicting emotions, but that didn't, entirely, blind him to the fact that the man who had appeared in front of him was not the target he was aiming for. The crackling lightning in his hands was deadly and he could stop Shikamaru's heart with it, even with an indirect hit, unless Shikamaru redirected it from his heart with his chakra.

Sasuke flipped back, using his free hand to spring away from Yosuke's attack as he attempted to re-evaluate. He intended to kill Itachi, come hell or high water. But Nara and Hanamura were between him and his target--he didn't want to kill either of them, he had no intention of killing anyone but Itachi. Even that was a half-formed plan on the wave of his tempestuous emotions, but it was the goal. Get to Itachi while leaving the others alive. No one else should have to die, just the one man.

But if they insisted on getting in the way...

"Move." Sasuke snarled, fingers flexing around the buzzing electricity in his palm.

[lazyish]

Shikamaru learned something immediately from Sasuke's retreat and the subsequent demand. Itachi was indeed the one he'd come to kill, Itachi alone. That didn't mean that they were out of danger, or that Sasuke would be even remotely reasonable about this, but at the very least this wasn't about to become a slaughter.

And here's where training with Yosuke would have come in handy. In an ideal world, they'd already know what to do in a situation like this. Now he'd have to somehow communicate his intentions to Yosuke mid-battle.

Shikamaru took a deep breath, not relaxing his stance but not charging either. "Whatever's going on, we can talk about this," he said slowly. "But I can't just let you hurt my sensei. You know I can't." While he spoke, he was retreating too, leaving Yosuke to handle the front but making it look like he was eager to stop fighting altogether. He didn't want to leave Yosuke to brawl it out with Sasuke alone, but he needed those extra seconds to invoke his shadow jutsu. He just hoped that Yosuke would understand that-- and survive.

[waitingfora]

Yosuke did look over his shoulder to check on Nill. It seemed like she was okay. He wondered if he should ask that she find a way to get out of here, but even if this was Elysium, this place wasn't exactly safe. What would happen to her while they're dealing with this little fight? He flinched slightly, wondering what it was that they could do. Looking from Shika to Sasuke, it really didn't seem like anyone was going to back down from this fight. And was that electricity?! He hadn't actually been given the memo that Sasuke knew some skills, too, but he supposed that that was an obvious given just how fast he saw the other move. But, but. "Come on, man, let's just..."

It was forced, but he tried to show extra surprise -- like something was going on just behind Sasuke. He wondered if the other teen would fall for it, but it seemed like he would have to buy Shika some time and also protect Sasuke from both the others and himself. Really, he didn't think that the guy wanted to do this and just need to calm down, take in some air and just stop with the whole murderous intentions thing. Made sense in theory, and he already was lunging himself forward to wrap his arms around Sasuke's shoulders. To tackle him to the ground.

But the moment that his body came in the slight contact of the electricity, he stopped almost mid-jump and collapsed onto the floor. A glazed sort of look washed over his expression as he felt suddenly both winded and dizzy at the same time -- like he had suffered some serious blow to the head, but that hadn't happened, right? Yosuke wanted to get up, to continue with what he was doing, but found that he was unable to. Could only sit and try to regain his senses.

[emonojutsu]

Shikamaru was retreating from the fight and Yosuke was coming forward--Sasuke had sparred with Nara too much to just assume the other teen was backing out, but Shika wasn't his immediate concern. The guy trying to tackle him was the one he had to deal with--except. The minute Yosuke brushed against him, Hanamura seemed to collapse. Sasuke paused, honestly startled by the reaction, and a bit worried. What had he done to Hanamura... Was it a ruse? But it looked genuine.

Still, a glance confirmed that Yosuke may have been in pain, but wasn't about to die on the spot, which spared Sasuke's attention for Shikamaru and Itachi. Sasuke was surprised Itachi hadn't joined in by now--but that was explained well enough when he spotted Itaci facing Madara, defending Kazama with his body. The bloom of fire made Sasuke frown, even as he stepped around Yosuke, one eye on Shikamaru. He wanted to call out to Madara, demand he be more careful of the bystanders. Instead he pointed a crackling finger at Shikamaru, his words clipped and harsh, a low, angry hiss.

"Nara." Sasuke snarled, looking between Shikamaru and the other battle. "Take the others and get the fuck out of here, you idiot. Do you want them involved?"

[lazyish]

Everything was happening so fast. Yosuke did it, he did buy Shikamaru those precious few seconds, but something happened to him in the process of it and Shikamaru only caught it out of the corner of his eye. There was a panicked moment, pain knotting his heart up, as he thought to himself, Oh god he did it, he got Yosuke with it... Yosuke had collapsed and Shikamaru couldn't even spare a glance to see whether he was alive or not.

Whatever happened, he couldn't let it go to waste. He wouldn't let it break his concentration. And while Sasuke was distracted by whatever was going on behind him, Shikamaru's shadow was gliding rapidly across the floor, aiming to seize Sasuke's.

Sasuke's advice was wise, but there was no way that Shikamaru could follow it. However, he called out, "Nill, get out of here fast! As soon as you see an opening!" He wanted to tell her to take Yosuke, but there was no way. If he was unconscious or... There was no way she'd be able to lift him.

And just that thought... It was bringing out a deep anger within Shikamaru. His next words were directed to Sasuke, "I'm not leaving. I won't abandon him!" So close. Almost there. If he could just capture him. If he could just hold him until Itachi could deal with him...

[silencedbird]

This wasn’t how the party was supposed to happen. Birthday parties were supposed to be happy occasions, day to look back on your life and smile with your friends at your side, a celebration that you had lasted so long and a testament to the hope that you would live to see the next one. (Or at least, that was how Nill saw it.) So strange people showing up, all of this, it wasn’t suppose t-

Something made the world stop.

She watched Yosuke go down.

No. She stood bolt up right, the not-quite-battle closer to her between Madara and Itachi forgotten, eyes wide and horrified, trying to figure out if Yosuke’s heart was still beating, if he was still breathing. This couldn’t be happening, she thought. Was he dead? Oh god, please, no, don’t-

She tensed, dug her fingers into the couch, because she knew she couldn’t move forward, no matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much she wanted to see if Yosuke was alright. She’d just get in the way. She wasn’t strong enough to move Yosuke out of danger, wasn’t…

Her gaze fell on the attacker suddenly and her eyes narrowed, wings flaring out behind her and standing up, almost like a cat with its hairs on end. Generally speaking, Nill believe that all people were relatively good deep down, and her friends were the greatest proof of this, especially Yosuke who had hurt her-and Kazama and Shika, she had figured out later, but never told anyone-but felt so bad about it after, but this boy. This boy was a stranger, someone she knew nothing about, and he had hurt her precious senpai. She didn’t want to forgive him. (Not right now.)

She heard her other senpai call out to her, tell her to leave, but she didn’t want to. Didn’t want to leave Yosuke behind, not while she was the only one to leave, not- she began to shake her head, to protest, but stopped herself, because-again, she knew-staying would just mean she was in the way. So she nodded, hesitantly, and sunk down again behind the couch, though she didn’t bother to protect her head, chin propped on the couch top to look at Yosuke. (she seemed to be bad at the ‘look for an opening’ concept.)

[waitingfora]

"Now, I'm pissed." First thing that he said as he got up onto his feet - wobbling slightly in the process. What had happened? Yosuke wasn't even sure just that he probably wasn't going to do something like that, again, if he could avoid it. There was something that he was aware of, though. The room was now on fire. It was more than a little surprising as at first he thought that the heat that he felt was just him - feeling embarrassed about having gone down so easily without really knowing why. Something that he would be sure to worry about when he wasn't in a life or death situation. His head whipped around a few times as he looked at everything burning, wondering just how long he had been out of it, and remembering - seeing - that Nill was behind the couch.

The first thought was that Sasuke had done this - having been somewhat out of commission for the short (long?) time that he had been out. He continued to try to think of some game plan and was coming up short. Eyes did widen when he saw Madara and was about to ask the man to help them out here, before he fully took in the scene that was going on. Just what was going on?! Uchiha-sama just … what!? His mouth had fallen open, but that didn't seem to matter as he had to return to the fight that he was in. Are we still fighting?

"Oh, man. We have to get out of here!" Voicing the painfully obvious and not sure what he could do. Wondering just how much time he wasted in assessing just what was going on around him - few seconds? Minutes? And Nill, Nill was. Flinching slightly, he knew he had to do something to make sure that she was all right, but the only thing he could do at this moment might scare her. It didn't matter. Not much thought went into it - if he thought anymore about it, he might actually feel a little sick - as he sunk his teeth into his wrist. Tore a bit at the skin until he was able to make a good gash on himself.

If he was feeling a little more sarcastic and able to make some funny-ironic comments, he would say something about how this seemed like the night of self-mutilation, but it really wasn't the time for it. He still wasn't quite sure how his ability worked, which meant it was probably not a smart thing to harm himself, in retrospect. Still, he called for it. Called in that he begged for it to appear to shove the couch out of the way so that Nill could run to where they were. It might not be the safest place, given Sasuke's sudden homicidal desires, but, but at least she wouldn't behind something that was supposed to be protecting her. That came first. Dealing with Sasuke would have to come second.

The "monster" did form out of his blood, but only for a few seconds to shove the burning furniture to the side of the room. Able to only get a few pieces away, but hopefully a "safe" enough path for Nill. Vanishing after the task was finished. His wrist was still bleeding, but he kept his back turned to make sure that Nill would be all right. "Just what the hell is happening, partner?" Trusted that Shika would have his back while he ensured that their kohai would be safe.

[emonojutsu]

While Yosuke was getting to his feet and reorienting himself, Sasuke was moving. He absolutely could not let Shikamaru's shadow get him. And with his eyes, anticipating movement was easy. Whatever Yosuke was up to could wait for the split second it took Sasuke to move, nearly materializing behind Shika in a single flicker of movement as he halted and drew back to strike. His movements were different than his sparring, purposeful, collected--usually when he trained with Shikamaru, while Itachi was nearby, he was just a little clumsy, a bit hesitant. Not so, this time.

Hesitation was weakness, he would not be weak, he would take revenge--why did he feel so strongly about this? What was wrong with him? He barely even remembered his family--and he would annihilate anyone who got in his path. Including--Shikamaru had nothing to do with this.

Sasuke's fist redirected at the last moment, the piercing shriek of electricity loud in Sasuke's ears as the jutsu dispelled with explosive force. What had been meant as a blow through Shikamaru's spine turned into an electrical burn along the teen's left side, the stink of burnt flesh and the ozone smell of electrical currents thick as the smoke from Madara's fire.

And Sasuke did not miss that the place was being set on fire, or that Yosuke had done something truly strange, his eyes had caught the creature, though not how Yosuke summoned it... Kazama was being menaced, and Itachi was...

Everything was wrong in this situation, Sasuke realized. He was not one to think or analyze, however, he acted on instinct and emotion, most of the time, this was no different. He shoved Shikamaru away, forward, towards Yosuke, not thinking, eyes on Madara and Itachi.

"I told you to get the fuck out of here and take the others, Nara. Don't make me repeat it!" Sasuke snarled, eyes flashing as he spared a glance over his shoulder.

[lazyish]

Yosuke's voice drew Shikamaru's attention for just a split-second, enough for him to realize that his friend was alive. Such relief washed over him. He hadn't even realized how much the worry had been making every muscle tense, especially his heart, and now that he could let some of it go, the battle would turn in his favor for sure. For a moment it almost seemed like that might be true. His shadow's speed increased, zigzagging after Sasuke with fierce determination.

Shikamaru only just glimpsed Yosuke's persona in action. His lips twisted into a rueful smirk, and he started to reply sarcastically to Yosuke in the midst of his shadow's chase, "What's happening is you're taking naps in the middle of a fight. And people say I'm the lazy o--"

Sasuke came out of nowhere. Moving faster than he ever had during their training sessions. Hell, Shikamaru had no idea he could even move like that. He had no time to react. The best he could do was start to make a new seal, to try to impale Sasuke with his shadow, but before his fingers even twitched, he was hit.

He couldn't tell, at the moment of impact, just where the blow had landed. Electricity surged through him, drawing a choked scream out of him, and he could feel his shirt-- his skin-- burning away. He stumbled forward as Sasuke pushed him, falling to the floor with his hands gripping at his chest. His heart... Everything... He was still there, but in so much pain.

He still wanted to fight. What the hell was the point of anything if he couldn't protect the people who were important to him? How could he just run when they were here to kill his sensei? But he couldn't do anything yet. His muscles were all spasming with the lingering shocks of electricity. Even if he could decide what to do, he couldn't articulate it.

[sagittariinae]

(Don't think, don't pause, don't feel, just move, take the path of action that would be most efficient in ending this situation.) To be honest, Kazama had partly been expecting Madara to stop him, and the fact that Madara hadn't only worsened the situation. It meant that Itachi was that much of a priority target. Teeth gritted, he pushed away these thoughts for the moment, focusing only on the matter at hand.

-- Nill, first. The fire was strong, but was taking some time to engulf the place, and Kazama shoved aside a burning table, crouching next to Nill, tugging her up by the arm. It wasn't exactly the most gentle gesture, but there wasn't any time for such considerations. He'd seen Yosuke clear the path, a (rare) smart move, and he quickly pushed her towards the exit. "Get out of here, now." Making it clear that this was the best thing she could do. -- And he would have said something more, maybe, except for signs of movement he caught out of the corner of his eye.

Giving Nill a last push towards the exit, he instead turned his focus on where Yosuke and Shikamaru were -- the latter obviously down for the count. And Sasuke, who was obviously planning on making a beeline towards where Madara and Itachi were. Letting out a low hiss, he knelt by where Shikamaru had collapsed -- the burns were ugly, but not life-threatening. But the fire would certainly exacerbate them. Tearing off his jacket, he threw it over Shikamaru's scorched side before turning to Yosuke, his words sharp -- almost desperate. "Take him and get out of here immediately."

Then, to Sasuke, "-- your interference probably isn't necessary." Past Sasuke's shoulder, he could just barely make out Itachi and Madara, still speaking -- the former's face streaked with blood. And Kazama wasn't stupid enough to think there was much he could do here except maybe draw time for the kids to escape, keep away any additional factors to the tangled situation.

[silencedbird]

Things were moving too fast for Nill’s mind to properly keep up with them, too many strange things that shouldn’t have happened (shouldn’t have been possibly) occurring for her to ever look back on this day and think that a single ‘normal’ thing had occurred. Yosuke had bitten himself, torn a chunk of his own skin away, and... the thing that came from his blood looked familiar-she had seen it before, she was certain-but she couldn’t properly place it, the image not quite connecting with the memory in her mind, but she didn’t care because Yosuke was up and he was okay, and she almost smiled despite everything around her, because-

She managed to catch the strangers movements this time around as she was being pulled up by Kazama, just in time to see his hand (charged with electricity that didn’t seem to phase him but was so very dangerous that she could feel static in the tips of her feathers) graze past her other senpai’s side, burning away his clothing, his skin, she could smell it in the air, knew the scent of burning flesh despite the smoke already in the air, slowly burning the lining of her lungs.

’Get out of here, now.’ She knew already that it was the best thing she could do, didn’t really have to be told to do it, but- but Yosuke is hurt and Shika is hurt worse, and- she didn’t want to leave them, not Yosuke, not Shikamaru, not Kazama either. They meant the world to her, those three people; Kazama protected her even though he didn’t have to, and Shikamaru helped her when her homework was too confusing, and Yosuke had given her a place to live and a happy life even though Spanner was gone, and he was home to her. But she nodded, because running was all she could do, and made her way towards the exit, hoping that the others would get out safely too. (she tried not to think about the possibility that they might not, and wished that she was strong, too.)