Gunpowder and White Sheets
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I really wanted to write something about Itachi and Sasuke, and this came out. It's set in an AU, so there are cars, and no ninjas. And no, it's not yaoi. It's just a big brother protecting his little brother.
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Panting, trying desperately to gather oxygen into his lungs, Sasuke made a quick leap over a pile of rubble that lay before him. Scrambling wildly, he tried to regain a little bit of footing as he came close to tripping over his own feet. His balance didn't falter, and he was able to keep running, seeking shelter. Eyes wild and frantic, he searched the battle zone in quick, sweeping,
glances.
Where was Itachi?
The rain of gunfire was getting closer, and ringing in his ears. It was a miracle that Sasuke heard his brother at all. But he did hear him, and he was very fortunate that he had.
"Sasuke!"
The younger brother stopped dead in his tracks and whipped his head around, eyes skimming over his surroundings until he finally caught sight of his older brother, hurriedly running to catch up to him.
Itachi made a wide, waving sort of motion with one hand over his head, stumbling and tripping over all of the loose rocks at his feet as he sprinted.
"Get down!"
Sasuke didn't question Itachi in the slightest. His brother, who was the one who had kept them both alive thus far, in the middle of a raging war, told him to get down. Without hesitation, Sasuke dropped flat onto his belly in the dirt.
Gunshots rang out all around him, and the young teen could feel his heart beating nearly painfully in his chest, coursing blood and adrenaline through his veins.
Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
A cloud of dirt suddenly rose next to Sasuke's shoulder as a bullet embedded itself deep into the earth, creating a startling sound that the young Uchiha cringed away from with a yelp.
The gunfire was closer than he had ever expected. He'd never been caught up in this much artillery before. It frightened him.
Ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum.
He could die here. He could die just as easily as his parents had died. Under a hail of bullets. The thought stuck in his head, and Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut against it, trying to force it out of his mind.
Curling into himself, Sasuke's heart raced, in sync with his brain, making him dizzy.
And then all at once, something big and heavy slammed against his back, sending the side of his face flush against the dirt and gravel. Sasuke tensed and almost made a cry of surprise, but stopped short when he recognized Itachi's voice from somewhere over him.
"Cover your head!" The elder instructed, his words spoken just inches from Sasuke's ear.
Without hesitation, Sasuke's arms shot up, wrapping around his head and the back of his neck. He felt Itachi shift his weight against him as he towered over his body; his harsh, ragged breathing was clearly audible as his head hung low near the ground, close to Sasuke's.
He was shielding him. Protecting Sasuke from the bullets hailing down around them.
It was too risky to keep running, Sasuke realized. With the bullets landing so close to them, if they got up and tried to escape somewhere safe, they would surely be shot down by whoever was shooting at them.
Muffling a swear word under his breath, Sasuke inwardly cursed Suna for invading their home, for killing his parents and friends. He cursed Konoha for not keeping the enemy out of their territory. He cursed everything and everyone, and more importantly, he cursed the stupid war itself for ever manifesting in the first place.
"Are you hurt?" Itachi spoke closely to Sasuke's ear, so he hardly had to raise his voice. Even with the gunfire so close, and whistles of bombs in the distance, Sasuke could make out his words clearly.
"N-no." He forced out, turning his head in the slightest movement possible until he could get a small glimpse of his brother out of the corner of his eye. "Are you--?"
A series of loud popping sounds filled the area suddenly, and Sasuke felt Itachi jump because of it. He tensed as well, and shut his eyes tightly.
The bullets rained down around them, and when the sound was so close and so loud that it was almost deafening, Sasuke gave a small cry, pushing his head low against the ground and wrapping his arms around his head tighter.
His brother's body kept him pinned against the dirt, and though it made it a bit difficult for Sasuke to breathe, Itachi was succeeding in shielding his little brother. His body covered Sasuke's enough that surely no bullet would touch him. Nevertheless, Itachi still put his own arms over Sasuke's head as an extra precaution.
Sasuke heard his brother let out a breath of air rather suddenly, as if he had been holding onto it for a while. His body shuddered, and Sasuke gripped at his older brother's wrist tightly.
The small clouds of dust that had started to rise up around them due to the bullets falling into the earth began to fade, and the loud popping sounds weren't as close as before. Sasuke felt Itachi lift his head, and after his brother had surveyed the area with his eyes, he wrapped an arm around Sasuke's waist and pulled him up, onto his hands and knees.
"Move." He instructed, repeating the word in a slow chant as he ushered his brother away from the spot they had been most recently occupying. "To that small cavity in the rocks."
Sasuke blindly scrambled forward over the rocks as his brother pushed him along, standing over him in a crouched position to continue shielding him while they moved. It wasn't until Sasuke had himself pressed as far inside of the small cavity in the rocks that Itachi released him and crawled inside after him, looking ashen and tired, even in the dull light.
"Are you okay?" The elder brother gasped, lifting his red eyes to study Sasuke, who was across from him, panting and shaking.
"Fine..." Sasuke managed, swallowing thickly as he shifted his position around a bit into a more natural sitting pose. He felt a cold dropplet of sweat slide down the side of his face, and he shuddered because of it.
Sasuke had just started to voice the same question to Itachi, but the whistling sound of bombs were getting pretty loud, and the young boy quickly clenched his eyes shut, bracing himself before the actual explosion shook the ground. Across from him, Itachi fell over as he leaned on his hands and knees. He lay on his side when he hit the ground, and simply covered his ears with both hands.
"Itachi." Sasuke mouthed, looking down to his older brother worriedly. The ground had stopped shaking, but his ears were ringing, and the gunfire in the distance was still drowning out most sound.
After a moment more, Itachi uncovered his ears and lifted his gaze up to Sasuke. He really wasn't looking well.
Sasuke felt another bead of cold sweat run down the back of his neck.
"Come...C'mere..." Itachi said, so softly that Sasuke had to read his lips to understand him. His brother lifted a hand meekly, and he took that as an invitation and crawled over towards him.
When Sasuke was within arms reach of his brother, Itachi slipped an arm around his waist and gently eased him down besides him. Unable to look up at the elder Uchiha given that his back was to Itachi's chest, Sasuke instead held onto his brother's arm tightly, curling against him as best as he could.
The ground shook again, with the force of another bomb in the distance, and Sasuke curled into himself defensively. His ragged breathing matched Itachi's in the small space.
"Shh..." Itachi said softly, laying his chin on Sasuke's shoulder in order to be heard. Even when he was so close, he sounded so far away. His arm tightened around his younger brother, and Sasuke held onto him for reassurance.
"...'Tachi..." Sasuke said.
"Hn?"
"Are we going to die?" He couldn't help but to ask that. He couldn't remember ever being so horrified in his entire life. He felt his own body shaking.
Itachi's gentle fingers moving through his hair settled some of his nerves. It brought back some fond memories of their childhood. Sasuke would often crawl into Itachi's bed at nighttime, and they would lie down just as they were now, minus the raging sounds of war in the background. It was soothing to remember. It seemed like their happy childhood had happened eons ago, but Itachi's quiet presence always made it seem like yesterday.
"I won't let you die, Sasuke." Itachi promised in the same distant tone of voice as before. "It'll be okay." Sasuke felt his brother shift slightly, and then both of Itachi's arms were around him, hugging him against his chest.
Sasuke didn't know when it happened, but not long after those reassuring, yet oddly soft-spoken words, he slipped into a brief, dreamless sleep. He woke repeatedly because of the bombs, and once when a few rocks came loose from the small roof of the cavity and bounced off his and Itachi's head.
Itachi's breathing was soft and even next to his ear, so Sasuke figured that his brother had been dozing off slowly as well. That was good. He needed to rest.
Sasuke couldn't remember ever being so tired before. The past three days had been such a blur, and he wasn't really sure where he and Itachi were anymore. Itachi had led him away from their hometown as soon as the Suna soldiers had claimed the three towns bordering them. He had been promising that he would bring both himself and Sasuke to a safe place to hide out while the ward raged.
Neither of the brothers had eaten much, nor gotten much sleep. Sasuke felt like he was going to wither away into nothing. Like he would just turn into dust and blow away with one sweeping gust of wind. Itachi looked like he felt about the same.
The next time Sasuke opened his eyes to inspect his surroundings, the whistling and crackling sounds of the war were further in the distance. Mere background noise. The sun, which had been high in the noon sky when he and Itachi had found their small hideaway, was now slipping out of sight across the horizon.
The sky was painted orange and purple with the fading glow. Pink and red in some other places too, Sasuke observed. It seemed so peaceful. So normal.
"Nngh..." Sasuke turned his head a little when he heard Itachi's soft mumble. The elder Uchiha was looking back down at him with warm, tired looking red eyes. It was getting increasingly harder to see Itachi with the fading light of the sun.
"Look, Itachi." Sasuke said gently, shifting a bit and rolling over to face his brother fully. He stayed safely within the shelter of Itachi's arms, however, not willing to trade that security for anything. He nodded briefly towards the setting sun.
Itachi's eyes shifted to the direction that Sasuke had indicated, and he blinked a bit before he seemed to wake up a little more and focus on what he was looking at. Sasuke saw the reflection of the glorious setting sun and painted clouds in Itachi's eyes, and he couldn't help but to smile when his brother did.
"It's beautiful..." Itachi said softly, voice still low. As if he were speaking so only he and Sasuke could hear.
Sasuke gave a soft nod, looking back at the setting sun as well.
The bright glow of oranges and pinks slowly faded away into blues and purples as both brothers lay motionless and silent, signaling that twilight had befallen them. The gunshots were mere fireworks in the distance now, and Sasuke barely payed them attention. His eyes stayed on the darkening sky, and his ears were listening to the soft drum of Itachi's heart as he rested his head close to his brother's chest.
The sunset had seemed so timeless and distracting, Sasuke felt a little odd hearing his brother's voice again after all of the silence between them. But he gave a small grunt of acknowledgment when Itachi called his name.
"We aren't far from the village I told you about...it has to be just a day's walk from here...to the west..." Itachi trailed off slowly. He pulled his eyes away from the now completely darkened sky to look down at his younger brother.
Sasuke gave a small nod to show he'd heard what had been said. "Good. Then we can get some food..." He gave a dreamy sort of smile at the thought.
"Yeah." Itachi said in hushed agreement.
Itachi began to run his fingers through Sasuke's hair again, and the younger Uchiha shut his eyes slowly, sighing through his nose in relaxation. His hands fisted into the front of Itachi's jacket and held firmly until he seemed to be ready to doze off and his grip faltered, just a bit.
"Sasuke..." Itachi whispered. It pulled Sasuke out of his daze, and he managed a disgruntled reply.
"Yeah?" It came out almost as a yawn.
"I love you." Itachi's arms around his brother tightened in the slightest degrees, holding him carefully against himself.
Sasuke was a bit perplexed by that statement. He furrowed his brow for a moment, then slowly lifted his head to stare up at his older brother curiously. Itachi's eyes were already shutting, barely staying open as the elder brother watched over his young sibling carefully.
It took a moment, but Sasuke finally nodded and then just lowered his head, tucking it beneath Itachi's chin. He settled against his brother comfortably, still loosely holding onto the front of his shirt.
Seeming unsatisfied, Itachi repeated; "I love you, little brother." Sasuke felt Itachi hide his face in his hair at the top of his head. "With all my heart..."
"Yeah..." Sasuke said quietly, adopting Itachi's hushed tone. "Me, too." He assured, curling against his brother a bit more.
Itachi must have been appeased with this, since Sasuke felt him nod faintly, and then let out a deep breath. Again, it seemed like he'd been holding onto it for a while. His body started to go lax as nighttime rolled in with all its velocity and stole away both brothers' waking moments.
Sasuke distinctly remembered Itachi laying a gentle kiss to the top of his head as he held him as close as possible. And then he lost touch with the conscious world completely.
- - -
Iruka gently lay the white sheet over the woman's body, wincing in sympathy at the loss of life. He hated the trails of death that was left behind the Suna army's rampage. The ground and buildings were littered with bullet holes, and many bodies of the civilians lay strewn about the small town in reckless abandon. Many of the streets were painted red with blood, and splattered with gore.
It was heart-wrenching to have to pry children away from their dead parents, or to have to hand over a young person's body to a weeping mother or father. Iruka half-sobbed at the memory alone.
Standing up in the middle of the littered, upturned street, Iruka gave the area another sweeping glance. So much destruction...so much death. It was sickening; terribly sad and inhumane.
Mournful cries from the rescued children greeted his ears and he slowly turned to face the direction that it came from. His closest friend, Kakashi, was soothing the newly orphaned children of the village, keeping them as far away from the carnage as possible. He was ushering them towards the jeep that he, Iruka, and Asuma had arrived in.
They would take the children west, to a small village that had been safe from the brunt of the war thus far. They would be safe there, given shelter, food, and clothes. It was the least that they could offer them until the war was over.
"Iruka." Kakashi called out to the brunette. He nodded towards the jeep briefly. "I'm going to take the kids to Asuma so that he can get them out of here."
Iruka gave a short nod. "Go on." He said with a wave of the hand. "I'll stay. There's still a lot to shift through here."
Kakashi looked skeptical. "I'll come back for you soon." He assured.
The brunette nodded, and then waved his hand for Kakashi to leave.
As he turned back to the very outskirts of the village, Iruka heard the jeep start up. The gravel beneath its wheels rolled over each other and screamed with protest as Kakashi drove off, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.
This left Iruka alone with the painstaking task of covering up the deceased with the small bundle of white sheets that he held beneath his arm. He said a short prayer over what appeared to be the last body, a young man, and then slowly pushed himself to his feet. He shook his head sadly as he surveyed his work.
The bodies were aligned neatly in the street, respectfully covered with white linen. Overhead, not even a single bird sang in an attempt to lift spirits. Even the animals stayed away from so much hate and the awful stench of wasted lives.
And that's when Iruka heard it.
There were no birds, so it couldn't have been a squak of some kind. Besides, it was too...dark. Sad. And Iruka knew that Kakashi had already left with the children. There was no one else around to make any kind of noise at all.
And yet he heard it as clear as a bell.
Crying. Mournful wails, drifting towards him from...somewhere. Iruka looked around franticaly, wondering if maybe there was a child burried beneath the rubble somewhere. But the sound didn't seem to be originating from the village itself. It was a bit further off.
Blindly, using his ears for guidance, Iruka followed after the heart-breaking sound. It grew increasingly louder as he neared the small outcropping of rocks just a small ways away from the backstreets of the village.
"Hello!" Iruka cupped his hands over his mouth, calling out to whomever was out there. The wailing didn't stop, and no one answered his calls. "Hello?" He tried again, brow furrowed as he continued on forward, not really knowing where he was going.
He wasn't sure how far he had wandered when he found them, but the echos of the crying had led him to a small overhanging of rocks that covered up an open crevice within the wall of stone. It was when he looked down that he saw someone's legs, their feet clad in tennis shoes. Someone was down there!
"Hang on!" The brunette quickly lowered himself down from the overhanging area and sprinted towards the crevice. He lowered his head a bit to peek inside, squinting a bit to see clearly.
People. Two young people, curled inside of the tiny cavity in the wall. One seemed to be around eighteen or so, and the smaller boy seemed thirteen or fourteen. The child was the one who had been the source of those awful sobs that had brought Iruka out here. He was curled against the older boy and holding fiercely onto his jacket, his shoulders shaking with the force of his sobbing.
"Itachi!" The boy wailed, his voice breaking as he called for the older male. Iruka assumed that they were related. Brothers, at most, since the boy had called the older one by name, instead of by 'dad' or 'uncle'. "Itachi!" He hiccuped, and Iruka felt dread at the pit of his stomach.
The brunette looked to the older boy, who lay unmoving and unresponsive to the younger's cries. It didn't take Iruka long to figure out that he was dead.
As he slowly kneeled down on the ground, Iruka let a few rays of sun slip around him and shine into the little hole. The boy didn't even seem aware of his presence as he continued to tightly hold onto his brother's jacket, calling for him as if he could wake him up if he yelled loudly enough.
"Hey..." Iruka began softly. "Kid?"
The young boy didn't even bother to look his way. He pushed his face further into the dip between his brother's neck and shoulder and hiccuped again.
"Kid." Iruka called again. He reached out his hand slowly, and moved a little closer to the two brother's. However, he stopped before he touched the child's shoulder and just stared down to the body that the boy clung to.
The young man's body wasn't facing Iruka, so he didn't see his face, but he had long black hair in a disheveled ponytail, and his clothes were filthy with dirt. But it was the small collection of blood that had gathered around him that let Iruka know how he had died.
There was a large wet spot on the back of the man's jacket, near his right hip. It wasn't so far inward that he might have gotten hit somewhere extremely vital, but it looked like it had grazed him rather nastily. And it had apparently been a big enough of a wound to let him bleed to death. A slow death.
It was such a tragedy. Iruka had to shut his eyes briefly as he said a silent prayer for the man.
May he rest in piece...
"Come on, kid." The brunette started again as soon as he had finished his prayer. He lay his hand on the young boy's shoulder and gently gave him a pull towards himself. "Let's go. I'll take you somewhere safe."
"No!" The child shook free from Iruka's grasp and quickly gathered his brother's arms around himself, holding onto them fiercely and squeezing his eyes shut.
"You can't stay here." Iruka tried to reason in a calm, gentle tone. "We need to go somewhere safe."
"I'm not leaving my brother." The boy snapped sharply. He continued to hold onto the older man, tears slipping down from his eyes and staining his shirt with dark patches. "I can't leave...I can't."
It was painful to have to do, but Iruka needed to get the kid out of the small cavity so that he would be taken back to the village, too. Prying the boy away from his brother wasn't easy, and Iruka almost couldn't do it, simply because the way the boy started to cry over the other's dead body was excruciatingly heartbreaking.
But the brunette eventually succeeded in prying the child away from his dead brother and quickly gathered him up in his own arms, holding him to prevent him from going back.
"Itachi!" The boy sobbed, his voice getting a little bit softer. He stopped fighting as harshly as before, and Iruka was able to comfort him easier now that he was settling down.
"He's gone..." Iruka muttered, eyes sympathetic. "I'm sorry." He cradled the boy and cooed to him a bit until Kakashi came back for him.
Hearing the white haired man honking the horn on the jeep, Iruka slowly pulled away from the child. He ushered him in the direction of the vehicle when Kakashi finally found them, and sat him down in the backseat.
"Wait for me for a moment." Iruka requested, looking to Kakashi for confirmation that he would do so.
Kakashi gave a nod. "Make it fast."
With a nod, Iruka turned back around towards the outcropping of rocks and jogged to where the small cavity lay, tucked away safely. Inside, the older boy's body still remained crumpled onto its side, arms limp in front of himself as if still trying to clutch onto his baby brother.
Iruka gave a heavy sigh and, with all the caution of an archeologist finding a new treasure, he moved the body out of the cavity and into the sunlight. The other's face was pure white, and his lips had long lost their colour. He was covered in dirt and mud, and had a few scrapes and bruises over his face and arms. It was a a disturbing thing to see. Namely because the young man looked so at peace. Iruka made a small shake of the head, feeling so sorry for the young man, as well as the brother he'd left behind.
Kakashi honked the horn again, a signal for Iruka to hurry. With a sigh, Iruka pushed himself to his feet so that he could get back to the vehicle.
But first, he unfurled the white sheet.
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I didn't really have a point to this. It's just meant to be sad. Kind of long, too. D: Oh well. I have little ideas of what would happen to Sasuke after he's taken away. Maybe I'll write a sequel to it later on. Anyhow, enjoy.