twenty-nine crows (朱) action/video

[yourhatred]

[Itachi has dealt with a lot during his time in Luceti, and he's weathered it all as well as he can. As a ninja, he's been taught to withstand torture, and he had to deal with things that most would never even have to think about.

Sasuke and Naruto had gone home. He's happy for them, really. They're needed elsewhere. But for them to possibly lose all their memories of this place, for Sasuke to be without his mother again and for her to have to know that the son she'd talked to might be gone forever, it's heartbreaking. It's for the best, but his heart aches all the same.

He isn't a materialistic person, either. He could live with nothing but the clothes on his back and be fine. Losing items he's grown attached to is disheartening, but ultimately easy to get over.

Still, as he stands in his yard near the place his greenhouse should be, gently petting the small kitten in his hands that should be a fully grown cat, all but the most oblivious should be able to sense a dark aura of Displeasure about him. He'll stand there for some time, his attention to the cat becoming some small form of meditation.]

[video, later]

[Once he finally returns back inside, he'll spend some time in his living room - with a smoothie of all things, non-alcoholic. The kitten remains in his lap, having given in to the inevitable by now.]

Shifts like this.

It really makes you wonder about the nature of this place.

Comments

[deathsdoctor]

[He paid good mission points for that greenhouse. Killed more than a few Cultists to make it happen. Bled for it.

So as Itachi pets Amaya and stares blackly at the empty spot where the building attached to the house used to be, Law sulks briefly from the kitchen window about lost for the moment mission points before turning his attention to his storm cloud of a husband. Yeah, that is rumbling.

His gaze turns to the garden patch for Itachi's outside garden. Oh shiiiiit. It's looking barren.

He leaves the fruit he's preparing for smoothies to head outside, two more kittens prancing behind him like ducklings after their mother. Sumire has taken again to following him everywhere, and Pumpkin joins her half of the time.

Incoming husband, Itachi.]

[yourhatred]

I'm sure it's just temporary.

[Itachi knows he's coming before he reaches him, and he doesn't turn around. He doesn't even sound angry, just tired.

The missing greenhouse on its own wouldn't have him this bothered. It's the state of things in general.]

[deathsdoctor]

[Law's going to scoop the kittens up before they get underfoot. Or use Itachi as a tree to climb.]

I'm sure it is, but it's still irritating. Things are wearing thin for all of us.

[yourhatred]

I should not be upset over material losses.

[The statement sounds mechanical, as if he's saying it more to himself than to Law.]

I need to busy myself.

[deathsdoctor]

Why not? After all the work you've put into your gardening, you have a right to be.

[He's just going to tuck the kittens in his hoodie. Usually Itachi carries Amaya this way, and not Law, but right now it's the best way to manage two wiggling cats.]

You need to blow off a little steam too. Spar?

video

[fervidity]

[Of course, the loss of Sasuke affected Itachi too. After Kakashi told her everything about the nature of the Uchiha Massacre she's been at a loss. What do you say to someone like that? She doesn't know.

What she does know is she is familiar with loss. And seeing Itachi sitting there with a kitten in his lap and drinking a smoothie... it's almost absurd that this is that same person.]

I've wondered about it even without the Shifts.

[yourhatred]

[Sparring... He supposes he can do that. It might be for the best right now.

He looks down at the kitten in his hands, though. No, it's probably not best to bring her along.]

... Alright.

[deathsdoctor]

[No, this is not a kitten friendly activity.]

We better put our girls inside first. They're a little too little to be out here. [A raccoon might run across them and that wouldn't end well.]

Is there any type of spar you're feeling up for? [Hand to hand, filial magic, weapons...] Or should we have an anything goes match.

[They've have to take it far from people if they do the latter. Anything goes (meaning Devil Fruit abilities and the full range of ninjutsu) could get destructive.]

video

[yourhatred]

Of course. Everyone has.

[A simple response, not meant to sound as if he's talking down to her at all.]

But time is something not easily tampered with, much less in pockets as it is now.

[video]

[corrinesbell]

I think I stopped wondering a long time ago.

[Years and goings-home have passed and she still never quite lost the connection she felt with Itachi, either.]

It's easier.

[yourhatred]

Just hand to hand should be fine.

[Simple. Basic. Something he can do practically on auto while still wearing himself down.

He turns toward the house and begins walking in that direction.]

[video]

[yourhatred]

It was a generic statement, I know.

[One wondered about the nature of this place the moment they arrived.]

But it seems as though there's always something happening that changes what aspects I wonder about.

Unfortunately I was never one for easy solutions.

[deathsdoctor]

Hand to hand it is.

[Law follows. Pumpkin gives a mew, otherwise the cats are silent. Hand to hand it is. Probably for the best.

It's not just the time shifts wearing on Itachi. It's the draft. It's Sasuke leaving. It's Mikoto. So while his husband intends to wear himself down, Law intends to wear him towards release and focus all that's brewing inside into an external outlet.

Perhaps others would say that would be better accomplished without fighting, but really that's the communication they know best. And it honestly speaks truer and more freely than words anyway.]

[yourhatred]

[The ninja prefers to keep the cats in their room when they're this small. Less avenues of escape, but more room to move around. Amaya is placed carefully upon his sheets, where she gives a cautious mew as he sets her down as though sensing his mood.

He sees no need to change. This will do just fine.]

[video]

[corrinesbell]

Yeah? You got any hard ones? I'll still listen to those.

[It's pretty clear by now that easy solutions are a myth.]

[deathsdoctor]

[Law places Sumire and Pumpkin right next to her. Pumpkin immediately begins to wash her paws while Sumire... watches Law quietly. She was his cat alone first and best knows his moods. Just like Amaya knows Itachi's.

Law doesn't see any need to change either. Jeans and t-shirt is fine battle wear (some might say different). He just follows Itachi's lead, and once they are outside, drifts with him to the clearing in the woods behind their house that they typically spar in.]

[video]

[yourhatred]

I have none.

[A light shrug of his shoulders.]

I meant I can't just stop thinking about it. [He doesn't work that way.]

[yourhatred]

[Itachi does shed the light overshirt he'd had on when they reach the clearing, going through a few short stretches. He still looks distracted, but gains more focus as he prepares to spar.]

What are your plans for the rest of the day like?

[deathsdoctor]

... cook up dinner, few chores. Gotta alter a few shirts. [Just regular housekeeping stuff - nothing much. Been to work already this morning - the rest of the day promises to be pretty lazy.] Nothing too exciting.

[Law stretches himself, eyes growing sharper as he too slides into focus. Whenever you're ready, partner.]

[yourhatred]

Alright then.

[He'd hate for them to go too far while sparring if Law planned on going back into the clinic.

The ninja bows to his husband, ready to begin.]

[deathsdoctor]

[A bow before Law's eyes suddenly narrow and he springs to the side inhumanly fast.

He lunges in from that side, fist flying towards Itachi's head in a feint to draw his husband into blocking that. Before at the last moment dropping and sweeping his leg out, attempting to knock the ninja off his feet.]

[yourhatred]

[A feint, but Itachi is an expert at those. Most of his focus isn't on what he can see, anyway. His eyes haven't been good enough for that for some time. It's on the little intricacies of Law's movements - the way he sounds, breathes, the way his chakra feels.

When the fist comes at his head, he doesn't move or flinch. Being able to judge killer intent and whether something headed in his direction is actually aiming to hit him is something he mastered before he even joined ANBU.

He hops up as the pirate aims for his legs, intending to then grab Law's shoulders and flip over him completely.]

[deathsdoctor]

[Didn't expect that to work, really, and there's the proof as Itachi's fingers dig into his shoulder as he flips over him.

The pirate knows who's winning this spar and it's not him. Hand to hand is Itachi's strength - not Law's. He's better with weapons in close combat (not that he's helpless without them); it's a simple truth. Another is that Law's true strength is in mid and long range combat. The only benefit he has here is raw strength and endurance.

Winning's not the point, though - getting his husband through what's weighing him is. So holding out till that is accomplished is the goal.

He's got a moment while Itachi's flipping over him to knock that movement askew. Instinct surges at the perfect second of when Itachi has the least chance of recovering, and that sweeping spin kick suddenly twists up. Law's body twists and contorts as hands slam against the ground and spin - an explosion of movement up and around.

Something from Sanji's Red Leg playbook. Although his fellow pirate would probably cuss him out for its execution.]

[video]

[corrinesbell]

It took me a long time to be able to stop thinking about it. [Sheena almost sighs. So many things happened to her, she's practically been rewired.] What're you wondering about this time? If, uh, you don't mind the question.

[yourhatred]

[He has less of a chance of recovering from that position, it's true, but the chance isn't zero. The ninja adjusts quickly, twisting in the air so that that kick just barely misses him, then flips back again after he hits the ground in order to put some distance between them.

No sharingan. No tricks. He's developed techniques to end fights quickly, as he gets no enjoyment in dragging out the pain of others. (The Tsukuyomi being something of an exception.) But this isn't a fight. This is a spar, and there's little need for him to resort to those methods here.]