[1032] Act II, Scene II, Sasuke
In which Sasuke spends most of these 1,800 words grumpy. Poor kid. As always, in its unbeta'd glory. Comments, questions, constructive criticism, keyboard smashing, are all welcome.
Oh, by the way, I'm flattered by all you guys who have asked for me to friend you, but it's not necessary. I know you're here for the zombies and not me whining about work (which is most of what I do in my friends-only posts), so go ahead and just friend me so you know when the next scene comes out. Alternately, if you leave a comment to this post, I will provide you a link to the next scene when it's put up. I've done that for every scene so far, and I've no reason to stop...unless you don't want me to give you a notification. XD
Also, look, I made a table for your handy reference!
Original drabble by askerian
Act IAct II
Scene I, Sasuke
Scene I, Naruto
Scene II, Shikamaru
Scene II, Sasuke
Scene III, Neji
Scene III, Tenten
Scene IV, Tenten
Scene IV, Sakura
Scene V, Lee
Neji hadn’t finished his third stomach-emptying heave before Sasuke was pulling his rifle out from between the front seats and opening the door. He bit the left side of his tongue to control the sympathetic spasms in his stomach.
By the time the older boy had moved onto his dry heaving, Sasuke was near the front of the car and had a clear line of sight. The other girl, Tenten, had carefully planted herself between her classmate and the open back door, close enough that Naruto hadn’t yet tried to worm his way out, though his head was sticking out behind her, one hand on the top of the door, ready to lever himself out.
Another dry heave. The early evening breeze blew the sour scent of vomit into his nostrils, and Sasuke bit down harder to keep his stomach contents under his control. He had seen so much blood in the last four or five hours now, more than a little of it of his own making, that it was absolutely ridiculous someone else’s puking was going to be the thing that got to him.
“Neji?” That was Lee’s voice, muffled from the car.
The boy shuddered and lifted his arm to wipe his mouth on his sleeve. “I am not feeling well,” he said with deliberate care. He spat weakly into his own mess before dragging his sleeve across his mouth again.
Silence was the only immediate answer. Sasuke watched as Neji pushed himself back onto the balls of his feet into a crouch--or tried to, at least. He wobbled, unable to keep his balance, and ended up half-collapsing into a seated position instead.
Tenten stepped toward her friend automatically, blocking his line of sight. That could be quickly fixed, but what made him stop biting his tongue and curse was her reaching out--left hand, not the one that gripped her crowbar--to touch Neji’s shoulder.
“Get back!” He took four quick steps at an angle to give himself a clear line. He noted distantly that Naruto had propelled himself out of the car, taking up the space Tenten had previously occupied.
He could just see it happening. In a split second, the scene replayed itself before him, new actors, same outcome. He envisioned Neji’s brow smoothing out, his jaw going slack, up until it opened its mouth and buried its teeth into her helping hand.
Sasuke wanted to strangle her. How could she be so stupid? He pulled up the rife, his confidence overcoming the sick feeling in his gut as the gun settled into its familiar spot. If she had lived this long, how could she just touch--
One of the doors behind him exploded open. Sasuke barely had time to register Lee out of the corner of his eye, let alone dodge, as the junior hurtled at him like a human missile. The impact jolted his entire body, they staggered together like drunks, and for a heart-stopping second his finger got caught in the trigger guard, brushed up against the trigger--
The gun went off. It bucked in their tangled hands like a crazed animal, and the shock was enough to land him and Lee on the asphalt in a confused heap. Sasuke landed on his butt and kept going, driven onto his back by the older boy’s weight, unable to shove him off thanks to the way their legs were shoving against each other.
It was only then when Lee started pressing the gun down, using it to pin Sasuke on his back, that Sasuke truly appreciated just how strong the junior was.
Oh, he had heard rumors that the boy could bench his own weight and a third again, but they had always come from a friend of a friend of some guy who’d never seen the inside of the weight room. And he knew that Coach M had taken a special interest in Lee’s training regimen for the last three years. But Lee was built like a stick, all slick lines with occasional knobs for joints. No obvious muscle to speak of.
Sasuke tried to push himself up on his elbows, only for Lee to press down harder. His eyes were wide and wild, but that wildness was not the panic of some cornered creature.
The echoes of the shot and his heartbeat rang in his hears. “What the hell are you doing?”
The wood and metal dug into his ribs. “Stopping you.”
“Sasuke!”
“Lee!”
There was shouting, so much shouting, but Sasuke’s eyes were locked on Lee’s. He could fight. He should fight. Or try to get up, at least. But he couldn’t get enough leverage without letting go of his rifle, and if he let go he knew he would not be getting it back.
They might have stayed like that until something came out of the corn fields and ate them, but Naruto’s face appeared over Lee’s shoulder. And then Sakura was there, too, her forehead creased in confusion. Maybe even anger.
There was a hint of something in her expression again. Something that wasn’t that utter blankness.
Sasuke relaxed, surrendering his grip on the gun. Lee hesitated for a moment, and with Naruto’s rough help, clambered off of him, taking the rifle with him.
Naruto then turned to offer his hand to pull him up, but there was only so much Sasuke could take in one day. He ignored it and got to his feet on his own, which earned him an angry look from the blond. That, too, he ignored.
“Are you all right?” Sakura asked.
He looked at her sharply, and was a little surprised to see that the concern in her expression matched her words.
Apparently the first steps to her being normal meant that she was going to start fawning all over him again. If they ever did find that Ino friend of hers, they would probably go right back to fighting for his attention, like he was some stupid trophy to win, despite the fact that the world was probably ending.
“I’m fine.” He ran his hands over his elbows--a bit skinned and stinging, but no bleeding at least.
Sakura nodded and the concern flitted away. But she followed them when he and Naruto circled around the car to see what his unwanted passengers were doing.
He wasn’t surprised to see Tenten and Lee crowded around Neji, Lee carefully holding Sasuke’s rifle as if he had no idea what to do with it. But he was surprised to see that the passenger door was open, and that Shikamaru was half leaning out, one hand on the door grip, the other hooked around the head rest.
The crunch of gravel alerted Shikamaru to Sasuke’s approach, and he turned his head to see him, his lips thinned and bloodless. Then he sighed and ducked back inside the car. “Neji wrecked his car at the school.” His voice slid out the open door, dripping with exhaustion. “He hit his head, and he was out for about a minute, maybe two.”
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, and he looked to Neji again, this time making a conscious effort to keep his anger--there was no way Itachi knew anything about...all this--and fear at bay.
It was true that Neji’s coordination and balance were off--he swayed minutely when he looked back and forth between his friends as they asked him question after question. But his fingers tapped steadily on his knee, an impatient but steady rhythm. After that, the signs--or lack of them--were easy to pinpoint.
They curdled in his stomach, a noxious mix of guilt and shame. And relief. He shoved his hands in his pockets to hide the trembling.
“Concussion?” Naruto asked.
“Most likely.”
Naruto swore under his breath. He was rapidly running out of creative turns of phrase, Sasuke noted. “What’re you supposed to do for that?”
Lee wasn’t so absorbed in Neji that he couldn’t answer the question. “Someone who loses consciousness is supposed to be taken to the hospital.”
Sasuke remembered that. At least, he remembered last year, when another school’s pitcher had caught Daisuke, the varsity’s best batter, with a glancing blow off his helmet. He’d shaken it off and taken his place on first base while they booed the other school. But when the next batter had hit a single, Daisuke had taken just a few lurching steps toward second before collapsing right next to the baseman.
Several frantic coaches, officials, phone calls, and parents later, an ambulance arrived. The varsity lost the game, and when Daisuke returned from the hospital, he was out for the rest of the season.
“I’m fine,” Neji said. He pushed to his feet, his friends automatically rising beside him to make sure he stayed upright. “And it’s not...” He scrunched his eyes shut and pressed the heel of his hand to his temple. His nose wrinkled, and he leaned over to spit. When he finished, he asked, “Did I throw up?”
No one answered. Neji didn’t seem to mind.
Shikamaru dragged a hand over his face. “We’ve got to get out of here, and we’ve got to do it now. That gunshot is going to have everything that heard coming this way.”
Sasuke bristled, waiting for the inevitable accusations and dirty looks.
But no one said anything at all. They all got back into the car in an orderly fashion, Tenten and Lee propping up Neji, Naruto sliding into the middle, Shikamaru pulling his door shut. Sasuke and Lee got to their doors at the same time, and Sasuke couldn’t help but glance at his rifle.
Lee met his eyes. They stood there, unmoving, Sasuke’s fingertips just under the door handle.
Without warning, Lee extended the gun, holding it parallel to the ground in both hands. “I don’t know how to use this.” His voice was quiet. “You can.”
Sasuke took his rifle back, his hands steady again. He nodded, briefly, and Lee returned the gesture with a smile.
When they were back on the road, the wheels taking them further and further away from everything that had happened before, Sasuke glanced back in his rear view mirror to really see who was with him. Itachi had told him not to be stupid or try to be a hero. Sasuke was pretty sure that meant he shouldn’t be tying himself down to people like the ones in his car: injured, irrational, unstable.
He wasn’t being a hero. Maybe he was being stupid. But what did that matter? Itachi had made it clear on more than one occasion that Sasuke was his foolish little brother no matter what he did.
Sasuke flicked his gaze back to the road. “We need to find someplace to stay for tonight,” he said. “We need to get patched up and eat. Maybe there will be better news tonight.”
Oh, by the way, I'm flattered by all you guys who have asked for me to friend you, but it's not necessary. I know you're here for the zombies and not me whining about work (which is most of what I do in my friends-only posts), so go ahead and just friend me so you know when the next scene comes out. Alternately, if you leave a comment to this post, I will provide you a link to the next scene when it's put up. I've done that for every scene so far, and I've no reason to stop...unless you don't want me to give you a notification. XD
Also, look, I made a table for your handy reference!
Original drabble by askerian
Act IAct II
Scene I, Sasuke
Scene I, Naruto
Scene II, Shikamaru
Scene II, Sasuke
Scene III, Neji
Scene III, Tenten
Scene IV, Tenten
Scene IV, Sakura
Scene V, Lee
Neji hadn’t finished his third stomach-emptying heave before Sasuke was pulling his rifle out from between the front seats and opening the door. He bit the left side of his tongue to control the sympathetic spasms in his stomach.
By the time the older boy had moved onto his dry heaving, Sasuke was near the front of the car and had a clear line of sight. The other girl, Tenten, had carefully planted herself between her classmate and the open back door, close enough that Naruto hadn’t yet tried to worm his way out, though his head was sticking out behind her, one hand on the top of the door, ready to lever himself out.
Another dry heave. The early evening breeze blew the sour scent of vomit into his nostrils, and Sasuke bit down harder to keep his stomach contents under his control. He had seen so much blood in the last four or five hours now, more than a little of it of his own making, that it was absolutely ridiculous someone else’s puking was going to be the thing that got to him.
“Neji?” That was Lee’s voice, muffled from the car.
The boy shuddered and lifted his arm to wipe his mouth on his sleeve. “I am not feeling well,” he said with deliberate care. He spat weakly into his own mess before dragging his sleeve across his mouth again.
Silence was the only immediate answer. Sasuke watched as Neji pushed himself back onto the balls of his feet into a crouch--or tried to, at least. He wobbled, unable to keep his balance, and ended up half-collapsing into a seated position instead.
Tenten stepped toward her friend automatically, blocking his line of sight. That could be quickly fixed, but what made him stop biting his tongue and curse was her reaching out--left hand, not the one that gripped her crowbar--to touch Neji’s shoulder.
“Get back!” He took four quick steps at an angle to give himself a clear line. He noted distantly that Naruto had propelled himself out of the car, taking up the space Tenten had previously occupied.
He could just see it happening. In a split second, the scene replayed itself before him, new actors, same outcome. He envisioned Neji’s brow smoothing out, his jaw going slack, up until it opened its mouth and buried its teeth into her helping hand.
Sasuke wanted to strangle her. How could she be so stupid? He pulled up the rife, his confidence overcoming the sick feeling in his gut as the gun settled into its familiar spot. If she had lived this long, how could she just touch--
One of the doors behind him exploded open. Sasuke barely had time to register Lee out of the corner of his eye, let alone dodge, as the junior hurtled at him like a human missile. The impact jolted his entire body, they staggered together like drunks, and for a heart-stopping second his finger got caught in the trigger guard, brushed up against the trigger--
The gun went off. It bucked in their tangled hands like a crazed animal, and the shock was enough to land him and Lee on the asphalt in a confused heap. Sasuke landed on his butt and kept going, driven onto his back by the older boy’s weight, unable to shove him off thanks to the way their legs were shoving against each other.
It was only then when Lee started pressing the gun down, using it to pin Sasuke on his back, that Sasuke truly appreciated just how strong the junior was.
Oh, he had heard rumors that the boy could bench his own weight and a third again, but they had always come from a friend of a friend of some guy who’d never seen the inside of the weight room. And he knew that Coach M had taken a special interest in Lee’s training regimen for the last three years. But Lee was built like a stick, all slick lines with occasional knobs for joints. No obvious muscle to speak of.
Sasuke tried to push himself up on his elbows, only for Lee to press down harder. His eyes were wide and wild, but that wildness was not the panic of some cornered creature.
The echoes of the shot and his heartbeat rang in his hears. “What the hell are you doing?”
The wood and metal dug into his ribs. “Stopping you.”
“Sasuke!”
“Lee!”
There was shouting, so much shouting, but Sasuke’s eyes were locked on Lee’s. He could fight. He should fight. Or try to get up, at least. But he couldn’t get enough leverage without letting go of his rifle, and if he let go he knew he would not be getting it back.
They might have stayed like that until something came out of the corn fields and ate them, but Naruto’s face appeared over Lee’s shoulder. And then Sakura was there, too, her forehead creased in confusion. Maybe even anger.
There was a hint of something in her expression again. Something that wasn’t that utter blankness.
Sasuke relaxed, surrendering his grip on the gun. Lee hesitated for a moment, and with Naruto’s rough help, clambered off of him, taking the rifle with him.
Naruto then turned to offer his hand to pull him up, but there was only so much Sasuke could take in one day. He ignored it and got to his feet on his own, which earned him an angry look from the blond. That, too, he ignored.
“Are you all right?” Sakura asked.
He looked at her sharply, and was a little surprised to see that the concern in her expression matched her words.
Apparently the first steps to her being normal meant that she was going to start fawning all over him again. If they ever did find that Ino friend of hers, they would probably go right back to fighting for his attention, like he was some stupid trophy to win, despite the fact that the world was probably ending.
“I’m fine.” He ran his hands over his elbows--a bit skinned and stinging, but no bleeding at least.
Sakura nodded and the concern flitted away. But she followed them when he and Naruto circled around the car to see what his unwanted passengers were doing.
He wasn’t surprised to see Tenten and Lee crowded around Neji, Lee carefully holding Sasuke’s rifle as if he had no idea what to do with it. But he was surprised to see that the passenger door was open, and that Shikamaru was half leaning out, one hand on the door grip, the other hooked around the head rest.
The crunch of gravel alerted Shikamaru to Sasuke’s approach, and he turned his head to see him, his lips thinned and bloodless. Then he sighed and ducked back inside the car. “Neji wrecked his car at the school.” His voice slid out the open door, dripping with exhaustion. “He hit his head, and he was out for about a minute, maybe two.”
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, and he looked to Neji again, this time making a conscious effort to keep his anger--there was no way Itachi knew anything about...all this--and fear at bay.
It was true that Neji’s coordination and balance were off--he swayed minutely when he looked back and forth between his friends as they asked him question after question. But his fingers tapped steadily on his knee, an impatient but steady rhythm. After that, the signs--or lack of them--were easy to pinpoint.
They curdled in his stomach, a noxious mix of guilt and shame. And relief. He shoved his hands in his pockets to hide the trembling.
“Concussion?” Naruto asked.
“Most likely.”
Naruto swore under his breath. He was rapidly running out of creative turns of phrase, Sasuke noted. “What’re you supposed to do for that?”
Lee wasn’t so absorbed in Neji that he couldn’t answer the question. “Someone who loses consciousness is supposed to be taken to the hospital.”
Sasuke remembered that. At least, he remembered last year, when another school’s pitcher had caught Daisuke, the varsity’s best batter, with a glancing blow off his helmet. He’d shaken it off and taken his place on first base while they booed the other school. But when the next batter had hit a single, Daisuke had taken just a few lurching steps toward second before collapsing right next to the baseman.
Several frantic coaches, officials, phone calls, and parents later, an ambulance arrived. The varsity lost the game, and when Daisuke returned from the hospital, he was out for the rest of the season.
“I’m fine,” Neji said. He pushed to his feet, his friends automatically rising beside him to make sure he stayed upright. “And it’s not...” He scrunched his eyes shut and pressed the heel of his hand to his temple. His nose wrinkled, and he leaned over to spit. When he finished, he asked, “Did I throw up?”
No one answered. Neji didn’t seem to mind.
Shikamaru dragged a hand over his face. “We’ve got to get out of here, and we’ve got to do it now. That gunshot is going to have everything that heard coming this way.”
Sasuke bristled, waiting for the inevitable accusations and dirty looks.
But no one said anything at all. They all got back into the car in an orderly fashion, Tenten and Lee propping up Neji, Naruto sliding into the middle, Shikamaru pulling his door shut. Sasuke and Lee got to their doors at the same time, and Sasuke couldn’t help but glance at his rifle.
Lee met his eyes. They stood there, unmoving, Sasuke’s fingertips just under the door handle.
Without warning, Lee extended the gun, holding it parallel to the ground in both hands. “I don’t know how to use this.” His voice was quiet. “You can.”
Sasuke took his rifle back, his hands steady again. He nodded, briefly, and Lee returned the gesture with a smile.
When they were back on the road, the wheels taking them further and further away from everything that had happened before, Sasuke glanced back in his rear view mirror to really see who was with him. Itachi had told him not to be stupid or try to be a hero. Sasuke was pretty sure that meant he shouldn’t be tying himself down to people like the ones in his car: injured, irrational, unstable.
He wasn’t being a hero. Maybe he was being stupid. But what did that matter? Itachi had made it clear on more than one occasion that Sasuke was his foolish little brother no matter what he did.
Sasuke flicked his gaze back to the road. “We need to find someplace to stay for tonight,” he said. “We need to get patched up and eat. Maybe there will be better news tonight.”