Scene one.
Sasuke feels his brother's grip on his neck, and he winces as he is thrown into the wall, hand throbbing and chidori fading as one contemptuous look from the sharingan renders him helpless. Nearby, Naruto and Jiraiya are held up, and Sasuke closes his eyes as humiliation burns through him, limp and doll like, propped up against the plastered walls.
He feels anger, he feels contempt. He feels ha-
"CUT!"
"What?" Sasuke snaps, a little bit too vehemently.
The director is not impressed.
"Feel more. You brother has killed your family! Feel more…" The director pauses, searching for the right word. "…despair."
Sasuke glowers.
"Don't you think the despair is getting a bit clichéd now?" He says, mindful of the fact that Itachi is staring at him, a smug smile on his face. "I mean, I can't keep on portraying angst…it hurts my facial muscles."
The director glowers back.
"You will keep on angsting as long as I am paying you for this part." He whacks Sasuke over the head with his rolled up script. "Now go despair some more."
…
Scene two.
The forest is still, oppressing and humid. But the still sun shines and Sasuke can only think of the second task, and the two scrolls that their team is still missing. He watches with horror as Orochimaru's form slowly begins to dissolve, flattening, globules of mud rolling down in streams. He realises only too late that is it kawamiri.
He is pushed into a tree trunk; wood splinters. Orochimaru smiles at him, under the dappled shadows of tree leaves.
His neck whips out, and a long tongue begins to lick Sasuke's neck. Slowly.
Sasuke is frozen.
And yet, the tongue continues to lick.
"…Just hurry up and bite me, already!" Sasuke growls. "At least then, I get to pretend to be unconscious."
…
Break.
There is a five meter radius around Sasuke as he sits stiffly in his chair, clutching a cup of coffee, glaring so hard that his eyebrows have become one. The director is ignoring him, and even Naruto (who tries to sit next to him but then flinches away, as if burned) gets the hint.
"Retakes. Fucking retakes." Sasuke growls, under his breath. "The fucking retakes."
"Everyone has to do them, you know." Itachi steps into the five meter zone, seemingly unaffected by Sasuke's…expression.
"Why?"
"Because you did them wrong the first time."
Itachi quickly starts to walk away, deftly avoiding the cup of coffee that is thrown at him.
…
Scene three.
The Third is dead. White chrysanthemums adorn the coffin, and Sasuke is tempted to lock Naruto in it.
"CUT!"
The director walks onto set, furious.
"Sasuke, you're not supposed to smile at a funeral."
…
Lunch break.
The cast are all hunched together in a small coffee shop down the road, because Chouji once found a piece of slipper in his mashed potatoes. The 'bad' guys are sat at one table, and the 'good' guys are sat at the other side of the room, facing each other.
Sasuke sighs and orders a sandwich.
Naturally, he is sat on his own, hunched into a little corner next to the window.
He watches Kiba throw a sandwich crust in Kankuro's direction. He hears Kankuro say how good dog meat tastes. He watches the table overturn. The coffee shop is too rowdy, plates clattering and people shouting and jostling. Though he still feels Itachi's stare on his back, and nods at the waitress as his sandwich arrives.
Someone places an elbow on his head.
"Get off."
The elbow is still there.
"Get off, Itachi."
The elbow moves off his head, and Sasuke is glad to see that his instincts are still as good as ever. Itachi sits down at his table, and Sasuke stares at him.
"What do you want?" He palms the butter knife in his hand.
Bemused, Itachi sets down a cup of coffee in front of him.
"For the cup you wasted this morning."
…
"What do you think they're doing?" Sakura whispered, nudging Ino in the ribs.
"I don't kn - hang on, is that coffee?"
"…A date?" Sakura suggests, rather weakly.
They look at each other, and then shudder.
…
"Go out with me?"
"No." Sasuke deadpans.
"Why?" Itachi asks.
"Because I hate you."
"That sounds familiar." Itachi pretends to examine his fingernails (still black from makeup) and he smirks when he sees Sasuke fuming.
"You killed our parents." Sasuke pauses and Itachi indicates that he should go on. "You molest me in between takes; you threaten anyone who takes an interest in me-"
"-It's not like you're bothered about them." Itachi interjects.
"But I want to threaten them." By now, the café is quiet and Sasuke's voice raises another notch in volume. "And you drink my coffee, and you steal my keys and you destroyed my car."
"Shuriken practice."
"Go practice on yourself."
And when he realises that Itachi is still examining his fingernails and that the whole café is listening in, his expression suddenly changes completely.
"…This is the last straw."
tbc