Title: Burn
Author: MintPizzaQueen
Pairing: None. A general Team 7 story.
Category: General, Hurt/Comfort
Rating/Warnings: PG
Words: 413 words
Summary: They meet tonight to burn everything to the ground. In the morning, they'll be back to bury the ashes. He'll be back to bury memories with those ashes.
Notes: Cleaning out my LiveJournal. In the process of deleting it.
They are standing at the entrance to the compound, watching as he pours an unknown liquid all over the porches. He shakes the large container, splashing the contents all over the wood and all over the doors as he strolls along, face set and eyes hard.
They look at each other as he makes his way back, but remain quiet as he stops in front of them. He doesn't make eye contact, instead he turns so he isn't facing them anymore. He stares ahead, silent contemplation evident to the two behind him.
Suddenly, he holds an empty palm out, not turning to regard them. The blond hesitates before he pulls out of his pouch a small bundle of matches. His hands shake as he fumbles to pull a single match from the group, and nearly drops it as he places it nervously into the waiting hand.
The pink-haired companion bites her lip as his thumb suddenly strikes the match-head and a small glow appears. He holds the small stick between pale fingers before he kneels, dropping it into a small pool of the liquid he had poured only moments ago.
It's almost instantaneous - the fluid ignites and there's a fwoosh as the flame races across its predetermined path, shooting across buildings, licking up doors, and hanging off of the roofs like ghosts. The wood starts to crackle and pop, and there's a sound of shattering glass somewhere down the street, but no one cares.
The two companions watch wordlessly as he stares at the flames, his shoulders tense as the scene before them unfolds. The first building suddenly falls victim to the fire and crumbles under its own weight, and cinders shoot up into the night sky.
An orange-red glow illuminates his face, still blank but eyes no longer hard. They travel down to the container that is still in his hand, and he turns it a couple times before he hurls it into the inferno. There's a loud bang as it hits an already disintegrating beam, and sends the overhanging roof to a random porch crashing down.
The two companions step up to him, one takes his arm and tugs at it while the other places an arm around his shoulder. For now, the moment is companionable, the human touch is welcome, and in the morning, they all know that they'll be back to bury the ashes six feet under fresh earth.
Sasuke will be burying memories along with those ashes.