twenty-three crows (朱) video

[yourhatred]

[There is a feminine face in view right now, and those who've run into her already will recognize this as Itachi in his currently female state.

However, something seems to be a little... off with Itachi today. For one thing, she's smiling quite brightly at the viewer, something the ninja never does. The feeling of not-rightness is worsened when she waves a hand in a friendly greeting.]

Excuse me, everyone, but I was wondering if you could tell me if you've seen my youngest son? I haven't heard from him all day and I'm getting a little worried.

His name is Sasuke and he's only seven - dark hair and dark eyes like mine. I'm sure he's just out with his brother somewhere, but you know how a mother frets.




((ooc: Itachi hasn't been affected by anything but the genderswap. However he looks an awful lot like his mother, and it's started to mess with him psychologically.

Replies will come from scarletfemme.))

Comments

[scarletfemme]

I am... Uchiha Mikoto.

[More frowning.]

You were a man?

[deathsdoctorine]

I am a man. Despite appearances. So are you. Despite appearances and what you think.

...

You are Uchiha Itachi. The most precious person to me here.

[scarletfemme]

[That gets a bit of a laugh out of her.]

Don't be silly... Itachi is my son.

[deathsdoctorine]

[The expression is like being slapped. She jerks slightly, reaches out, and then drops her hand.

What am I doing wrong?]

[scarletfemme]

[That reaction brings a concerned look to Itachi's face.]

Law...?

1/2

[deathsdoctorine]

[I...

I am a doctor. I cannot...



There's that pause where she cannot answer. Her voice is gone, she has been hollowed and scraped to the bone, and she has nothing left to draw on except little shards of pain.]

2/2

[deathsdoctorine]

[... but she cannot allow herself that luxury so the moment passes.]

I know this hard to believe. I know you don't want to believe it. That this is nice and not painful - a safe refuge, I know.

But this is an illusion. That's all. An illusion. You are Uchiha Itachi, genjutsu master, and one of the finest shinobi Konohagure has ever seen. Your life has been a hard one and your sacrifices unspeakably great.

You are the man who loves his brother and his village more than anything in the world.

...

...

... you are the man I love. And I would do anything to bring you back.

[scarletfemme]

No, you're mistaken. I'm...

I'm...

[There's that headache again. She covers her eyes completely with one hand, curling in on herself.]

I-I can't see...

[She couldn't, hardly, and she'd been functioning anyway.]

[deathsdoctorine]

I know, Itachi. Overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan brings blindness to the user. That's why you can't see.

...

No, I'm not wrong. And you know it. Search deep inside yourself. You know the truth. The real truth.

Break this illusion, Itachi.

[scarletfemme]

[She takes deep breaths, on her knees on the ground, hands shaking.

She's too confused to say anything, thoughts too scattered.

Itachi wouldn't have let this happen to himself.]

[deathsdoctorine]

Come on, Itachi. You know what is real. You need to remember.

[She's on her knees now, reaching out. This is hurting, like watching Itachi slowly lose each piece of himself hurt, and she pushes through it because what's more pain... and...]

Come back. Please come back.

[scarletfemme]

[Itachi reaches a hand out suddenly, grasping at Law's shirt, holding it tight as he stares blindly at the ground, wide-eyed.

This never should have happened.

Never.]

Law... Law, stop. Don't speak.

I just... Give me a moment.

[deathsdoctorine]

[Back. He's back. Thank the sea.

She slumps, spent, and stares at the dirt. Her yukata is pulled open and askew between Itachi's grip and the slump, revealing the bandaging keeping her breasts bound underneath.

All she does is breathe.

Just breathe.]

[scarletfemme]

I'm sorry.

[The words are muttered, and he's shaking his head.]

That... that was inexcusable.

[deathsdoctorine]

[Law lays a hesitant delicate hand on Itachi's shoulder. And then another.]

Don't.

[Tugs him forward into a loose embrace. Because she needs this.

And this is something you don't need to apologize for.]

[scarletfemme]

[He'd grown weak here. These are pure signs of weakness, and he can't pass them off on his change of gender as some might. He wants to push away from the pirate, but he has to have hurt Law enough already with his actions.

So he holds still, eyes closed as he focuses on calming himself.]

I should... lie down.

[deathsdoctorine]

[Haki user, Itachi. Haki user. She senses it and keeps it brief. It is selfish that she did it at all, but she is a pirate. And they are selfish people.

So she nods and feels helpless and weak because she can sense Itachi's mood.]

Okay. I'll have some tea and food ready when you get up.

[She'll have drunk half the liquor cabinet by that time as well, but there won't be any evidence of it.]

[scarletfemme]

[Itachi nods, the mere fact that he has to do this not sitting right with him. But his head is pounding and he feels so suddenly drained emotionally that he can't think of anything better for him just then.

He stands with Law's help, making his way back inside without saying another word and remaining silent until he's curled among the blankets on his bed.]

[deathsdoctorine]

[And Law is left alone outside. Her longer hair is blowing in her eyes and she blinks away the sudden tears caused by the irritation.

She fixes her yukata, hides her exposure, and then trods inside slowly. Dully. Her first stop is where she keeps the Romulan Ale. The bottle dangles from her fingertips. She looks at it and then pops the cork.

What a pitiful creature you are, Trafalgar, finding comfort at the bottom of a bottle.

She takes a long swing anyway and recorks the bottle. And with that in hand, she walks into the kitchen to cook.]

[scarletfemme]

[Some time later, when Itachi steps out of his room again, he looks completely different. He's bound himself the same way as Law and tied his hair back into the usual low ponytail. He's not wearing his usual blue silk, but the Akatsuki robes he'd stashed away for so long.

He has to look like himself above anything.]

[deathsdoctorine]

Hush, hush... it's coming.

[There's the sound of insistent mewing. It's feeding time for the cats. And bowls being set down.

Now unless Law's drunk to the point of nearly passing out, there's really no way to tell she's been drinking, unless you get close enough to smell the alcohol on her breath. She walks steady, is clear eyed, and startling sober sounding.

And by the time Itachi has hit the third stair down, the sound of a kettle being placed on the stove can be heard. Along with a few whistled strains of a sea shanty.

She is in fact, smiling. Because Trafalgar Law is a man of smiles, even when the last thing she feels like doing is smiling.]

Tea will be ready in a few minutes...

[And then she begins to turn.]

[yourhatred]

[Itachi's steps quicken, and he reaches out to catch Law as she turns.

He just wants to hold her a moment, wordlessly. Just a moment for the sake of comfort, then he has to hold it together for as long as the experiment continues to last.]

[deathsdoctorine]

[Her smile fades into something more real and she catches black fabric and red clouds in her vision before she's pulled in.

The alcohol makes her too numb to be terribly startled, lidocaine for the soul, and then her arms come around him, tight. Maybe a little too tight at first... Law's physical strength even as a woman befits her status as Supernova, but she soon eases but doesn't let go.

Nothing is spoken. Nothing needs to be. She just allows herself to be comforted and the moment to simply be.]

[yourhatred]

[The scent of alcohol doesn't go unnoticed, but it does go unmentioned. Itachi has no room to judge right now.

When he finally breaks away, he walks calmly to a seat at the table and just sits, still not ending the silence.

He can't think of anything else to do.]

[deathsdoctorine]

[She's grateful for that. Law busies herself with making tea, pouring cups, and finishing the light supper of miso, rice, and grilled tofu and vegetables, and then setting the table.

This... is going to be difficult. Moving on. Fixing what can be fixed. She doesn't know ho--- no, she does. At least the first step. End the silence between them. Somehow.

So she breaks it.]

... I've never seen you wear that before.