EXT. SMOLDERING CLEARING — LATE AFTERNOON
The forest looks like it got into an argument with lightning and lost.
Trees scorched black. Dirt gouged into a shallow crater. A few stubborn flames still chewing on bark like they're trying to finish what the fight started.
SFX (FIRE): fff—ff—ff—
SFX (STATIC, FAINT): krk… krk…
KILLUA and SASUKE stand across from each other.
Not in "final boss" poses.
In "I can't believe you're still standing" poses.
Killua's hoodie is shredded. One sleeve is basically a suggestion. His hair is wild, eyes bright, breathing controlled but heavy.
Sasuke's cloak is torn at the hem. His hair still damp from the waterfall, now sticking to his cheek in that annoying way that makes even a revenge-obsessed prodigy want to commit a small crime.
They both look wrecked.
They both look… weirdly satisfied.
A beat.
Not hatred.
Not peace.
Just that razor-thin mutual recognition you only get when someone tries to kill you and does it intelligently.
Killua tilts his head, deadpan.
KILLUA
You done?
Sasuke's mouth barely moves.
SASUKE
Tch.
Killua's mouth quirks like he won a tiny argument nobody else heard.
KILLUA
I'll take that as yes.
Another beat.
The air shifts.
Not wind.
Not temperature.
Presence.
Sasuke's posture locks first.
Like someone just slipped a blade between his ribs without touching skin.
His eyes sharpen, but his body does not move.
Killua's expression drops like a curtain.
No bravado. No jokes.
Something old and conditioned grabs his spine.
Killua's hand rises slowly to cover his mouth, like the instinct to speak is suddenly dangerous.
He points behind Sasuke.
His finger trembles just enough to betray what his face refuses to show.
Behind Sasuke, half-hidden in the trees—
RED EYES open.
Sharingan.
Calm.
Unavoidable.
ITACHI UCHIHA stands there like he's been there the whole time and the universe just finally admitted it.
Sasuke's breath catches.
Not fear.
A clean, controlled shock.
At the same time—
Sasuke's gaze flicks behind Killua.
A tall silhouette with perfect posture and the kind of smile you'd call "polite" if you'd never met predators before.
ILLUMI ZOLDYCK.
Black eyes.
Empty attention.
Standing close enough that Killua should have noticed him.
Which is the point.
Sasuke's pupils tighten.
SASUKE (V.O.)
If we move… we're dead.
Killua's throat tightens under his hand.
KILLUA (V.O.)
Not here. Not now. Not when I was—
The brothers speak at the exact same time, overlapped so perfectly it feels rehearsed by fate.
ITACHI
Brother…
ILLUMI
Killua…
Killua and Sasuke about-face simultaneously.
Mirror images.
Two assassins spinning to face their personal horror stories.
They start to shout, synced—pure reflex.
KILLUA / SASUKE
WE—
DONK.
DONK.
Two separate, brutal efficiencies in the same heartbeat.
Itachi's strike is gentle and exact—like turning off a lamp without breaking the bulb.
Sasuke collapses mid-breath.
Illumi flicks a needle with casual precision—barely a motion, barely a sound.
Killua drops mid-word like his strings got cut.
SFX (NEEDLE, TINY): tkt.
Sasuke would hit the dirt—
Itachi catches him before he does.
Not soft.
Not warm.
Just… controlled.
A respect Sasuke will never admit he still wants.
Illumi lifts Killua like luggage.
Casual. Possessive. Annoyingly careful with the neck.
Killua's hair falls over his face. He looks younger like this. Like the fight didn't happen. Like none of it mattered.
A long, eerie beat as Itachi and Illumi regard each other across the ruined clearing.
Two monsters with manners.
Two older brothers who learned to love sideways.
Illumi's smile widens a fraction.
ILLUMI
(pleasant)
Troublesome little brothers.
Itachi's voice is soft. Unreadable.
ITACHI
…Yes.
They nod.
Not friendship.
Not alliance.
Just: understood.
Itachi turns away first, Sasuke in his arms, moving through the trees like a shadow with purpose.
Illumi follows his own path, Killua over his shoulder, vanishing into the forest like a bad thought you can't stop.
FINAL SHOT:
The clearing.
The smoke.
The fading crackle of electricity.
A single leaf drifts down and lands on a scorched kunai.
SFX (LEAF): …tsss.
Silence.
CUT TO BLACK.
FADE IN: EXT. SMOLDERING CLEARING — DUSK
The sun is lower now. The smoke looks purple in the fading light, like the forest is bruised.
Silence.
Then—
Suigetsu strolls into frame late, hands behind his head, casual like he's walking into a comedy sketch he didn't audition for.
He stops.
Stares at the cratered dirt, the scorched trees, the melted… something.
He squints at a faintly sizzling patch of ground.
SUIGETSU
So… Sasuke fought a lightning ferret…
Beat.
He points vaguely toward the devastation like he's presenting evidence in court.
SUIGETSU (CONT'D)
…and then got kidnapped by an emo mime?
From OFFSCREEN—
KARIN'S SCREAM, distant and furious, closing fast like a siren that specifically hates Suigetsu.
KARIN (O.S.)
SUIGETSU!!
Suigetsu flinches so hard his soul briefly exits his body.
Jūgo steps into frame like a calm weather system, eyes half-lidded, listening.
He looks at the sky.
Then the ground.
Then the empty space where Sasuke used to be.
A faint smile, like he can hear Sasuke's mood echoing in the trees.
JŪGO
He'll come back.
Suigetsu blinks.
SUIGETSU
Who. The ferret?
Karin's scream gets closer.
KARIN (O.S.)
I HEARD THAT!!
Suigetsu panics and bolts out of frame at top speed.
SUIGETSU
NOPE!
Jūgo watches him go, serene, like this is normal. Like this is Tuesday.
Smash cut to black.
DONK.
END.