yourhatred | seven crows (朱) voice

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seven crows (朱) voice

[Forward-dated to tomorrow (the 30th)]

[The calm facade is easy to slip into after years of conditioning himself. Perhaps too easy. He hasn't slept or eaten much in the past few days, though he'll have to force himself to do both soon enough despite the influence of the hallucinations. The only outward signs that he might be having difficulty, however, are a little darkness around his eyes and the rare bit of clumsiness on his part one would never see normally.

But his thoughts are a jumbled mess. This becomes apparent the moment he opens his mouth. Despite this, he still manages to throw up a couple strong filters. Perhaps it's a cry for help of sorts.]

[filtered to Katara]

Katara-san... Do you know who I am? Have you left your window open?

[filtered FROM Sasuke]

There are dead crows on my windowsill. I think they were trying to get in.

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[Shikamaru runs a hand over his face. He's too tired to deal with this - why is he bothering.]

And you're making no sense. [Somewhere down the hall, he can hear a monitor beeping away-] Get a grip.

Get a...? [There's a pause on Itachi's end, as if it takes a bit for Shikamaru's words to register. This is followed by a low chuckling, sounding further away as the ninja stands and moves away from the journal for a minute or two.

Then it goes quiet. Then:] Shikamaru-san... you should come over for tea.

...not a fan of tea.

[Stay where he can see you, dammit. His fingers twitch for the mask he shoved atop his head, a piece to the ANBU costume he got stuck with.]

No...? [Itachi is only responding to the voice, his eyes dark and blind. He can't spare the energy for his Sharingan right now.]

Something else then... [This is muttered. He's apparently actually trying to think of what else he can invite the other ninja over for.]

[He flips the mask down, then back up; down and up again. He's slow about it, going through the motions mainly to give his hands something to do while he waits for Itachi to say more.

When he doesn't, he sighs.]

If you want me to come over there, just say so. Don't make up some stupid excuse.

I was exercising common courtesy. My olive branch has long withered.

Times like this, I'll take the facts over courtesy. [Better to know that branch is withered than to pretend there might be fruit on it. Gives him a better idea of what he's getting himself into.

...why Itachi even bothered asking would be another thing to get an answer to. Is he Option B, since Katara didn't respond? But it would be pushing his luck to ask for an explanation to that.]

I'm going for a walk. [Which may end up at CH2, if he decides to risk it.] I'll let you know if I see any crows.

The fog will devour you and spit you back out. Walk the edges and chill your heart or it will do it for you.

[His voice cracks at the end out of sheer weariness, and he closes the book to avoid further conversation.

He's not entirely sure why he's asking Shikamaru over either, save to have a familiar voice to answer his. An anchor of sorts, if only for a time. If he doesn't come, he won't ask again.]

Hn. [Thanks for the reminder. He plans out the time before he goes, memorizing the minute he needs to head back to his apartment before the fog rolls in. The calculates again as he walks, distracting himself from the butterflies dancing on the edges of his vision.

He's been chain-smoking since yesterday so as to not get blind-sided again by the heavy scent of smoke in the air (and the blood and the rain), but when he eventually does show up to Community Housing Building 2 more than an hour later, the cigarette gets stomped out. His own form of courtesy.]

[The door to the apartment will be unlocked. Despite the fact that Shikamaru said he didn't want any tea, Itachi has heated up a kettle of water regardless.

...Though that's all he's done. The actual tea part has been left out, and the cup he's sipping from every so often as he paces in the living room contains nothing but hot water.]

[He'll admit - one of the reasons why he came was to see if Itachi had actually stuck to the same apartment. The floor's shared kitchen certainly seems to imply that he has.

Shikamaru toes open the door and frowns at the pacing.] Glad I didn't take you up on the tea offer.

[Itachi freezes in place at the voice, as if he hadn't been expecting company after all. Shikamaru is familiar, but his eyes flash red as he allows the Sharingan to take over in order to get a brief look at his visitor. The color fades almost as soon as it appears, and he sets his cup down on a stand beside the sofa.]

My information on you was inaccurate. You have a mask now.

...That's also an unfortunate habit. But it was an unfortunate loss.

[He tenses, but it's not because of the Sharingan. His back straightens, and he ignores that last remark.

Shikamaru counts to five before raising the mask a little more - every few minutes he can feel it try to slip back down on its own.]

It wasn't exactly something I picked for myself. If I could take the damn thing off, I would.

The mask has become you? I hear that's a common occurrence lately, but I can't seem to find mine.

[He hasn't been stuck in a costume this whole time, but he would have greatly preferred it. Even the most ridiculous thing.]

Not everyone's been lucky enough to get one. [Said somewhat sarcastically... though it was kinda hilarious to see Shino in a clown costume.] Could make your own, but you're really not missing out on much.

Self-imposed masks are less honest but easier to bear. [The pacing has caused him to feel unsteady. He takes a seat before it becomes too noticeable.]

...I'm surprised that you came, even as I expected it.

[He shrugs.] Turns out I didn't have anything better to do.

Chouji-san was in the fog. Did it stain much?

Chouji's fine.

[He just nods at this, silent for a few moments. One would think blindness would stop something like hallucinations, but no. His mind just fills in the darkness with false images.]

I should... I've forgotten it. The mission briefing.

...mission briefing?

Yes... Can you remind me? Maybe then the details will come back.

[What would I know about a mission of yours? Idly, he wonders if Akatsuki handles their 'missions' the same way Konoha does...]

[He tugs at the sleeve of his costume.] You've already completed it.

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