AN: Happy (early) Mother's Day, mothers! You're all wonderful, beautiful people. Bless you.
Sasuke bolted upstairs. He could hear people yelling outside. Mizuki was screaming. The fire was upstairs as well as downstairs. Broken glass crunched under his feet. It was so hot. He was getting dizzy.
"Mizuki!" he called, opening her bedroom door. It was empty. One of her windows shattered as a flaming projectile clattered to the floor, alighting the room. "Shit. Mizuki!"
"Help!" she screamed.
Sasuke's heart hitched. He could hear the utter terror in her voice. He turned and ran into Naruto's room. The door handle burned him. He flinched away. This was the only other room upstairs; she had to be in there. Sasuke swore. He took several steps backward, and then surge forward, ramming his shoulder into the door. It slammed open. He nearly ran into the flames.
"I'm stuck!" Mizuki was in the far corner of the room, clinging desperately to a barking Minato. The fire was all around her, hungrily consuming the floor as it worked its way toward her. The window next to her was shattered.
Thinking quickly, Sasuke ran into the en suite bathroom. He turned the water on high and grasped the shower hoes. It just barely managed to reach the bathroom door, but luckily the jet of water was strong enough to make it to the fire.
"Hold on. I'm going to get you out of there," he shouted over the roar of the fire and the yelling outside.
The minutes ticked by. Mizuki cried harder. The fire wasn't going down quickly enough. Sasuke swore before turning the hose on himself. Drenched, he tossed it aside and leapt through the flames. The heat licked at his skin, sizzling against his wet skin. Snatching up Mizuki and the puppy, Sasuke leaped out of the broken window. He slid down the roof of the living room's bay window and landed on his feet. Pain rippled through his legs and he crumpled to the ground, releasing Mizuki and Minato.
"It's him!" "Cocksucker!" "Get him!" "Uchiha!" "It's him!" "Whore!" "Make him pay!" "Uchiha!" "Faggot!" "Get him!" "Bastard!" "Kill him!" "Cocksucking bastard!" "Get him!" "Pussy fag!" "Make him pay for what he's done!" "Get the faggot Uchiha!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!"
Sasuke looked up. Before him was a swarm of hate-filled eyes. They were the eyes of his swim mates in high school as they beat and defiled his boyfriend. Blood, there was so much blood. These eyes were cold and spoke of death.
"Mizuki!" he screamed, "RUN!"
Shikamaru lay on the floor before the Kyuubi. A pool of blood spreading out around him like broken angel wings, his eyes staring unseeingly to the sky. Kyuubi roared. With red eyes flaring, he pushed forward, grabbed the gunner's wrist and snapped it back. The man screamed in agony. The Kyuubi grabbed his upper arm and snapped his elbow joint. With each new break, each new scream, the mob fell more into silence. The Kyuubi dropped the man, still alive, to the floor and put his foot on the man's throat. He looked at Ino.
"Check him," the Kyuubi growled.
Ino rushed to Shikamaru's side. Choji followed suit, placing his hands over the two gunshot wounds. She put her fingers to Shikamaru's throat. Everyone was silent. Everyone held their breath. A second passed, then two, three, four…
Naruto watched as tears filled Ino's eyes and then poured, unchecked, down her pale cheeks. Choji pulled her into his arms, his blood soaked hands clinging to her shirt. Ino sobbed. Naruto roared. He raised his foot and then slammed it down.