Gracie Abrams is eking out a solitary existence, fighting day-in, day-out against the drain of working customer service and nursing two newborn kittens in her off time. Out on her own ever since her sister moved in with her boyfriend, the burden of...
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The man took the blue chair with wide eyes. I turned away, stumbling down the shadowy block, hoping the mess with Itachi was over. Perhaps there had been even more birds, but Kakashi had defeated Itachi, and the rest of them had disappeared.
As I got closer, I had to remind myself I wasn't dreaming. There was Kakashi, his hair askew, a slight burning smell lingering in the air. And there was Itachi, firing off jutsu after jutsu, each one more deadly than the last.
And there was Kirishima, his quirk fully activated, standing between Itachi and Kakashi.
I stopped at a nearby oak tree, where I gathered my strength and realigned my focus. I had nearly walked back into an ongoing battle. I needed to stop and remember what I was doing. Leaning on the rough bark, I felt a sharp spike of heat as my arm came into contact with the tree. Even with my sweatshirt between me and the unforgiving surface, I already knew I was pressed up against an open wound. God. What a mess.
Kakashi and Itachi wove hand sign after hand sign, the scene eerily similar to Kakashi's fight against Hanzo the Salamander. But this time, instead of water jutsu being spread back and forth, it was fire and lightning. Kirishima blocked them all, the illusions bouncing harmlessly off his armored body. But soon, even the lightning striking his untouchable form began to smoke, blacken.
Kirishima was only going to get hurt if he stayed between them like that.
With a grand, sweeping gesture, Itachi's eyes blazed an ungodly red, realigning their magatama shapes into something like a wheel. Horror shuddered through me as he activated his mangekyou.
"Look away! Look away!" I yelled, but it was as if a waterfall stood between me and the battle in front of me. I clung to the tree as I felt my knees give out, watching in knowing horror of what was about to happen.
Itachi was made of nothing but shadows beneath his high-rising cloak. His eyes were only so vibrant because they were special. I couldn't make out if he was in control of his movements or if he was stuck in the same trap as Rengoku.
"Kirishima!" A loud call filtered through my ears. Tingling recognition located Sam, standing just barely visible from my vantage point by my door. "Shut your eyes!"
Kakashi shoved Kirishima out of the way, his hand lit up with electric blue. It outlined his body, this fearsome flashlight.
Chidori.
He was about to use chidori.
I found my strength just as Kakashi struck, running flat out on the blacktop, headed straight for where Itachi stood beneath the lone streetlight like a stain of darkness. Itachi took it, his chin tipping up in a direct confrontation. As I moved closer to the scene, I was finally able to see Itachi's face.
