& there lies firestarter
Naruto fan fiction
Genre: character study, gen
Rating: PG (K+) for brief language
Characters: Sasuke, Itachi, Madara
Word Count: around 400
Notes: For Week #15, "Rebirth" at NarutoContest on LiveJournal. Rebirthing isn't always for the better.
Warnings: Based on chapters 384-402.
The world is all cracked ground beneath him. It pulses in the heat—maybe breathing, likely not; shucked snakeskin of some better life (lie). Smell of wet dust, deep pounding of the blood in his ears, in his heart—
On his hands.
This will be the first time he has ever killed anyone. He suspects it will be his last. Dark cloud in the distance, speaking to him. Air—heavy with electric charge. Weighs on his chest until he can't even breathe, can't lift his arms. But then the cloud at the end of the valley charges forward and the weight falls away.
Itachi has always left very little room for indecision. Today is no exception. For the first time in three years, Sasuke is alive again. He flies.
Itachi falls.
The rain comes down to paint life back in, bring sproutlings into flower and tender leaflings into glory. Instead, a myriad of ants spills from the cracks, writhing like shadows as they brave the (are defeated by the) storm.
'Home' is gone. And this sinewy-spidery man in front of Sasuke reminds him over and again, until the message hurts more than the meaning: Itachi was brilliant; Itachi was strong; Itachi was the kinslayer. Itachi was sick; Itachi was blind; Itachi was
—falling to pieces. (And so is Sasuke.)
Because Itachi was fucking perfect, Sasuke thinks. Even subject of a perfect vengeance. But—
"No, no, no!"—it's the masked man again, smile licking like black flames at his lips; Sasuke cannot see it, but he can feel the heat—"Why are you alive?" What do you live for? "Because Itachi couldn't. Kill. You. You—dearest little brother of his.
"He loved you."
Fascinating. Absolutely fucking fascinating. Seeing as Sasuke's spent all these years dead, anyway. His mouth twitches into a wry smirk, twisting with a newfound restless energy. He stares down at the ground, averts his gaze from That Man and his (bloodlustfirehateshame) oh-so-familiar eyes.
Sasuke can't see the bottom of the abyss, doesn't know how far the rain will fall before it hits rock bottom. He doesn't need to.
The ground is shrapnel and every step is pain; the air is gone, burned away. The sky is deathly still, never mind the rainfall.
But here is the fire and there lies the firestarter.
Sasuke flies.
My first Naruto fic; I'm not really sure what to think of this one. Oo As far as writing it goes, god was it painful. I made myself physically sick trying to capture what these past few chapters must have felt like for Sasuke. Not pleasant—and actually a bit pathetic, really. XD
Constructive criticism is much appreciated!