thirty crows (朱) action/video (time shift catch-all)

[yourhatred]

September 22nd - closed to Law

[Itachi leaves his bedroom as usual, but exits it at death's door.

The time shift, catching him moments before he would conclude a fight with his brother, moments before the time he was brought from into Luceti in the first place, dumps a bleeding, wreck of a man out the other side of the doorway. The ninja staggers, a bloody arm that had been held out in front of him catching onto the opposite wall of the hallway.

So ready. He'd been so ready. What's going on? Literal moments away from dying, prepared to give into the inevitable, Itachi now finds himself having to do his damnedest to keep himself breathing. The orange glow of Susano'o at first barely surrounding him as he arrived, fades away into nothing as he fights against the darkness at the edge of his vision.

Where is Sasuke?

Coughing, his free hand covering his mouth as blood ran through his fingers, the man leaned further against the wall, the last of his adrenaline leaving him.]

September 23rd - OTA

[Late in the day, after a fair amount of rest, Itachi finds his journal and spends a while reading through it. The other entries become too confusing after a while, but he at last tries to make one of his own. After all, it does seem to be a form of communication.]

I'm looking for Uchiha Sasuke.

September 24th - OTA

[After a failed attempt at trying to get up and make his own breakfast, the ninja will eventually escape the house by way of a substitution technique and wander the town. The clothing is slightly ill-fitting, as the Itachi that's been living in Luceti for the past four years is a fair bit healthier than the one walking slowly through it now.

Don't worry. The cough isn't contagious.

He can be found in basically any building around the town center, and eventually sitting wearily at the fountain.]

September 25th

[Officially banned to the house, but still this older self until he wakes up the morning of the 26th.]

Comments

Here we go 1/... something

[deathsdoctor]

[The smell of breakfast fills the air - comfy, cosy scents as Law appears up the stairs, coming to see if his husband's ready, and thoroughly unsuspecting of what he's about to find.]

Oi, partner, come on, it's getting col---

[...









]

[deathsdoctor]

[...]

[deathsdoctor]

[No.

-racing forward-


no.

nononononononononononoNONONONONO....





NO!]

[deathsdoctor]

ITACHI!

Done

[deathsdoctor]

[Catching him. Catching him now! And lowering him to the ground as every bit of his energy is slammed into casting Nala to yank his husband away from the precipice of death.

These wounds. His mind flails, trying to understand. What could cause these wounds?!?!]

Stay. With. Me!

[yourhatred]

[An unfamiliar voice with an unfamiliar face. Not that anything is much more than a blur right now. Eyes graying with blindness try to focus on this new arrival. Whoever it is knows his name. More importantly, whoever it is can heal.

And he can't die here. Not with Sasuke inexplicably gone. That has to be staved off even longer.

Itachi reaches a shaky hand out, bloody fingers grasping at the front of Law's shirt. It's too hard to speak, but he has to get his point across all the same. Keep me alive. Not that this man seems willing to do anything but that.

His right arm has been seared by fire, while a wound on his left thigh, left by a thick blade and cutting near to the bone, makes it a wonder he'd been on his feet in the first place. But they didn't cause this, and all other wounds are superficial. It's the illness inside that's destroyed him the most. His breathing is harsh and his heart set to fail.]

[deathsdoctor]

[The shirt is yanked even as Law tears open Itachi's own. Burns, not a priority now. The deep laceration on the thigh, not important yet.

It's his heart. It's his lungs. Keep him breathing. Keep his heart beating. Even if he has to slice open Itachi's chest and do it manually himself.

His lips seal over Itachi's as he concentrates Nala's magic to the ninja's heart. He's going to help breathe for him - more oxygen for the system, less strain for the heart. Room expands around them - got to stabilize him enough and then get him to the clinic.

And Countershock will have to do if he needs it. His defibrillator is in a scroll - there's no time to get it, and he will be precise enough that it won't matter. Mes - maybe... as a last resort. The shock of that could kill him. It's just easier to open up his chest for more direct healing if needed.

The pendant Law wears flashes close to Itachi's eyes. How strange it is that the stranger so admant on saving the ninja's life...

... wears the crest of the clan he killed.]

[yourhatred]

[Itachi isn't sure what he expected. This isn't chakra. These aren't the techniques he's used to seeing a healer perform. But he allows them because he can feel them having an affect, however small.

He's still alive. He's pretty sure he might have died already if not for the help. The man's lips on his bloodied ones are unexpected, but he doesn't fight that either. Anything that can help keep his lungs working will be accepted, and the man is providing him with more air than he'd be capable of taking in on his own just then.

The pendant catches his attention and he doesn't understand it - doesn't have time to understand it. He doesn't understand any of this, and it's taking enough of his focus to stay alive that he can't afford to divide it. He knows this man isn't an Uchiha. This mystery will have to be solved if he makes it through this, but not now.

There's blood in his lungs. His breathing is wet. His grip on Law's shirt tightens as he wills his heart not to falter.]

24th

[deathsdoctor]

[The only reason you haven't been substituted straight back to bed for that stunt, dear husband, is because Law has been hit by a timeshift as well and he has to track you down the old fashioned way.

It might take awhile.

But not too too long. Not with these eyes.

Sooner or later you'll feel the crimson red of the Sharingan boring into your back.

Someone's getting banned to the house.]

[yourhatred]

[It's a familiar feeling, and for a moment he hopes... but no, he can tall immediately that it isn't Sasuke. He's always been able to sense his brother better than anyone.

Turning, he's able to pick out the red of the Sharingan even with his poor eyesight, and he can tell the figure of his captor new acquaintance (supposed husband) right away. But the two things don't match up. He's confused enough, and tired enough, that he doesn't even bother moving.]

When did you...?

[deathsdoctor]

This morning. It's a Shift.

[Bluntly, as his hands continue to rest on his hips. You've lead him on quite the chase, partner. The tomoe in his eyes spin as he assesses Itachi's chakra levels. They're better, as his husband is better, but overall the picture is still abyssmal.]

You're not going to recover if you keep doing this.

[yourhatred]

[He doesn't expect to ever fully recover from his illness at all, but Law's right and he knows it. He has to be prepared to face his brother again. There are just things he needs to know.]

I-- [Almost in response to that, Itachi raises his hand to cover a couple light coughs. There's no blood this time at all, and he sounds far better than he did when the shift happened, but this isn't any way to prove that he can be outside.] ... I needed to see the village.

I need to learn about this place.

[deathsdoctor]

[There's a way for him be rid of it. A way for illness never to touch him again. The Ope Ope no Mi's pinnacle technique - Immortality Operation.

For the price of Law's own life.

It's a technique he's never been interested in even exploring, especially in Luceti, where life and death has been made so much cheaper (and true death so much more horrifying). But that morning of the 22nd...

It had flashed into his mind. For the first time, it had been tempting.]

Why don't you ask me?

24th

[corrinesbell]

[When Sheena went into the tea shop's kitchen, the place was empty; when she comes out, there's a different ninja sitting at a table, looking lousy. Surprise visits from Itachi are...surprising, but she heads to his table wearing a worried smile.]

Hey. You don't look so good. [With no idea that he might not even know who she is; in Sheena's head, they know each other well enough that he won't care if she voices her opinion.] Here for tea, or just a break?

[yourhatred]

[Itachi raises his head to blink up at her, squinting at the unfamiliar blurred figure. Someone else that claimed to know him? Apparently she works here, and if that's the case he's not too surprised by the familiarity. If he had lived in a place like this for some time, it would be a given that he'd visit a tea shop regularly.

'Not looking so good' is an understatement.]

... Tea.

[Would she already know what type he liked, too?]

[corrinesbell]

[Ooh, he doesn't sound good either.]

Tea it is. Thinking about anything different this time? [She does know what he likes, but she has something else in mind for him if his next answer sounds that bad again.]

[yourhatred]

[A single shake of his head as he straightens in his seat.]

No. My usual order is... fine.

[Seeing as he does apparently have one. His voice doesn't sound any better than before, throat rough from coughing, but he doesn't seem concerned with that.]

26th - Aftermath, or we can't have too many threads

[deathsdoctor]

[When Itachi wakes up, the house is quiet. Law's not bothered to make breakfast yet, instead settling for simply making tea, walking right back upstairs with a cup, and sitting on the edge of whatever bed he's been sleeping in. Not hungry.

His eyes are still red.]

not enough threads

[yourhatred]

[Itachi breaks the silence when he wakes up coughing. Half awake and dazed, the need to do so dies off after a few moments and doesn't return. He raises a hand to his chest automatically, but it's fine. He's fine.

Well, physically fine. There's about a minute or so where he's not even sure who he is. Memories blend together - knowing this place and not knowing this place. Eventually he settles on the most important matter: he'd just been through a shift, and he hadn't recognized Law during it.

A hand reaches out to feel the bed next to him, already knowing the pirate isn't there. He slips off the side of the bed, getting to his feet in order to go looking for him. He still feels tired, but it's nowhere near the level of weariness he'd felt over the past few days. He hadn't even truly appreciated how much healthier he'd gotten while living here until now. He can feel the difference.]

...Law?

[He listens for his husband's presence as he walks down the hall.]

[deathsdoctor]

In here.

[The pirate looks to the door from where he's seated, the tomoe in his eyes spinning once. He hasn't bothered getting dressed for the day - a sign it's still pretty early in the morning - and is wrapped in the robe that Itachi got him for his last birthday. His hands are cradling his tea.]

How are you feeling?

[yourhatred]

A hundred percent better. Or perhaps more. A hundred percent of what I was at might not be a large enough improvement.

[The Sharingan should easily be able to pick up the vast changes in both the amount and quality of his chakra as Itachi enters the room, but he won't even need special eyes to immediately see the difference in his overall health.

This isn't the Itachi that doesn't remember him. This is one that feels the need to wrap his arms around his husband the moment he's close enough.]

[Voice, 23rd] I caved

[middlegames]

[...you know he's not supposed to talk to this guy when things are normal, but someone should probably answer his question. If he doesn't know for himself about Sasuke, that probably means he went home and came back or something, or it's a weird experiment. So it's better if someone explains, right?]

That guy left a couple months ago. He's not here anymore.

[Voice, 23rd]

[yourhatred]

So he was here...

You're -- [Some light coughing cuts him off.] -- You're sure?

[A child's voice, one he doesn't immediately recognize, but the latter isn't surprising.]

[Voice, 23rd]

[middlegames]

Yeah. Sakura said so.

[Voice, 23rd]

[yourhatred]

Haruno Sakura?

[He knows the name, knows the face. When had both of them been here and how had he not known?]

Is she here now?