𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐧 (𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧/𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬)

[blackfire]

CHARACTERS: Itachi and various.
LOCATION: The Simulation Room, the sunlight room, the kitchens.
DATE: post-mission and onwards.
CONTENT: mostly just chillin'.
WARNINGS: The usual gamut - PTSD abounds. Casual nudity in the hotsprings prompt. Two open starters, custom starters on request.

HOTSPRINGS (OTA)

（ despite a longstanding dislike of the station's illusory venues, he has chosen to load a new program into the simulation room — an onsen. it's based on an area he frequented in his travels, a place that eased the worst of his aches before death claimed him. the clack of a shishi-odoshi sets the ambiance, and there is the distant sound of crickets and the lull of burbling water. the sky overhead is the jewelled dark of a moonless night, the stars providing the only light by which to see.

he is quite obviously and comfortably naked, scars thrown into sharp relief. the worst of them is a massive, still-healing mark that curls over his shoulder and leaves a jagged swath of scar tissue down past the jut of one elegant collarbone — with it being considerably uglier should they happen to catch a glimpse of his back. burn scars wind their way up his right arm and terminate at mid-bicep. still — he is as unselfconscious of the injuries echoed in the permanence of his skin as only a man accustomed to viewing his body as a tool can be.

regardless of who joins him, no amount of nudity will seem to trouble him at all. instead — ）

Would you care to join me?

（ there are showers nearby — and failing to take one before one ventures into the water will earn a barely perceptible upward twitch of one eyebrow (but no commentary — he's distressingly accustomed to a lack of proper onsen etiquette these days) but he will otherwise welcome them with a gesture of his hand. ）

KITCHENS (OTA)

（ he is in the kitchens, tidying up after the evening meal. he's got a towel slung over one shoulder, and is washing dishes in peaceable silence, rinsing them in the sink and then setting them to dry.

if he becomes aware another person has entered the kitchens — ）

Please pass me that towel.

（ he points without looking to a neatly folded towel that's folded on the countertop that just happens to be to the near right of where your character is standing. help or nah? ）

𝐎𝐑

（ he's in the process of making a pot of soup. it's obviously intended to be communal, as there the dish is far too large for any one man. those that might recognize the cuisine might realize it's sanpeijiru, a salmon soup with root vegetables. hearty, comforting, hot. itachi is not an especially talented cook, but what he makes is edible and serviceable, and should anyone venture into the kitchen in search of food during this time, he will wordlessly pass them a bowl of it. ）

BLUE (INFIRMARIES)

（ he has pieced together as much of the final moments before the tower's explosion as he could, given a lack of communication with blue. seeing the other man's post on the network filled in the missing pieces, and when blue wakes in the infirmary after his latest round of intravenous vitamins, itachi is sitting at his bedside. his eyes are dark, expression set. ）

Blue.

Comments

[shumi]

( if things don't go sideways for them here, then itachi may have a second chance at it. )

Hm. ( he tilts his head at the question, his expression turning mildly thoughtful. ) Truthfully, I didn't allow myself to think about it. ( by the time he was assigned to team 7, it was already far too late for him to feel any which way over his role (or lack thereof) in naruto's life. )

I did what I could for him as his sensei and I'm proud of the shinobi he has become. As I believe the Yondaime would be too.

[blackfire]

（ the shinobi ability to compartmentalize — truly, a remarkable thing. ）

I met him. One last time, before the end. I believe he is the only one left in the world who cares for Sasuke as he deserves.

（ he does not say, as i do. it's selfish of him to harbour such deep affection, after all this time. the lies and the pain and the betrayal. ）

[shumi]

( they have little other choice.

besides, what is a healthy coping mechanism? )

One last time? ( please expand on that. )

[blackfire]

I encountered Naruto before my final engagement with Sasuke. We spoke. I gave him a small portion of my power, should such a thing become necessary to return Sasuke to Konoha.

（ don't ask, he won't tell 😌 he took the secret of kotoamatsukami to his grave, and he doubts hiruzen ever divulged its existence to kakashi, it having been kept to the narrow circle of danzō, hiruzen and himself. ）

[shumi]

A portion of your power...?

( it's an unexpected thing to hear. )

I'm assuming that Naruto isn't aware of it either.

[blackfire]

He will become so, should he have need of it.

（ he lifts one shoulder in an absent shrug. he is — fond of the boy, as much as he was of anyone at that point in his life. perhaps it is the fire naruto kindled in him when he was just a child, calling him brother without hesitation because itachi had shown him a moment's kindness from behind the mask of a member of anbu. such a lonely boy, so eager for connection. if anyone can drag sasuke back from the ends of the earth, he has faith it will be him. ）

[shumi]

If we accomplish what we've come here to do, then he won't have need of it.

( he doesn't speak for a moment as he stares ahead of them, contemplative of whether he cares to speak his next words to him. )

There may not be any sense of urgency for some of the people here, but I would like to return home as soon as possible. Things are far worse than when you'd left it. Time doesn't stop while we're here, so the longer it takes for us to achieve our objective, the more pain the ones we've left behind will have to endure. I may have complete faith in Naruto to face whatever difficulties will come his way without me, but if I can lessen it by any degree, then that is what I'll do, disregarding whether everyone here is in agreement with it or not.

( that is to say he will never allow what happened in their previous mission to happen again, even if he has to take measures into his own hands. )

[blackfire]

I don't believe it does.

（ he says that with a shake of his head. he understands why kakashi may feel so, but he has been here considerably longer. ）

The Ximilia exists outside of time and space. It is capable of pulling people from a variety of times, and no one seems cognizant of anyone's absence in the interim. Those who have returned to their world likewise report that they returned to the last moment of their awareness there and that time proceeded onward as was natural to them.

（ at the resolute statement — which he can absolutely divine the true intent of — he fixes kakashi with a look, dark eyes unreadable. ）

We remain here by Viveca and Degar's grace, Kakashi. Going against the will of our teammates will likely see you removed altogether. Even if you disguise yourself and deceive the majority of the crew, they will know. It is easier to play along for one's own purposes.

[shumi]

But time proceeded nonetheless. ( it changes little that people will continue to suffer and die at the hands of those with more sinister goals. ) I came here because I want a better outcome for our home, even if I don't get the chance to see it for myself.

( he shifts his gaze over to him, his eye narrowing ever so slightly. )

The crew don't always make the right decisions. We have only one purpose when visiting these planets and it is to retrieve the orbs. Diverting from that objective for the sake of going along with the majority is not something I see Viveca or Degar approving either.

[blackfire]

（ our home. kakashi saying that sets something to burning in him, the ignition point is more conflagration than not. he closes his eyes briefly, and then — ）

Time proceeded as you understand it, from the point of my death to your last remembered moment. But whether my soul is present in the afterlife or not would not alter your perception of your life's events — that in an of itself is not adequate proof.

（ he sends kakashi a list, all those who have gone and returned and their accounts with as much detail as possible. dean, ed, mccoy, to name a few. the truth is, there is no evidence they remember the ximilia at all upon their return, nor that their being present disrupts the timeline of their own worlds. those who have come and gone without return... the only explanation is that they have lost their resolve.

obviously, he's done a lot of thinking on this matter, ever since shikamaru. ）

I am not saying that we should stray from the objective, I am simply cautioning you against direct opposition. Ultimately, what you do is up to you.

（ although it is... odd, to see the man who spoke of friendship, and of never leaving others behind speaking so coldly of the crew. truly, they are not shinobi and it is an easy division to make, but this... it is more the man whispered of in cruel rumour than the one he had come to know in anbu. itachi frowns faintly, and braces his elbows on the smooth edges of the hotspring where the stone has been worn down by centuries of traffic and use. ）

What occurred during Pain's assault on the village?

[shumi]

( ultimately, kakashi will do what he sees fit based on the circumstances presented to him.

if he could hear his own words, he would not be able to deny that he doesn't sound like himself — or, rather, he sounds like a version of him that was long buried, if not completely eradicated, after he had left the anbu.

he sounds like the child who had suffered far too many losses in his life over a short period of time and could no longer tolerate it.

—yet he would argue that his current attitude isn't the same as he was then. he still values the safety of his teammates above all else, but kakashi has not accepted the ximilia crew as allies. in his eyes, they are nothing more than a band of people who have joined together collectively out of sheer personal gain. nothing more, nothing less.

it's clear he wasn't expecting itachi's next question in the way his brows creases into a notable frown. his initial reaction is anger at him for daring to ask, which quickly placates into nothing more than a simple desire to extract himself from the conversation.

the events of that day continues to haunt him, unrelenting in their invasiveness and chilling in their memory, yet he hasn't allowed it to hinder his focus or affect his performance. still, it doesn't mean that he wants to go over it — not when the images remain seared into his mind so pervasively. )

I have no interest in recounting it with you.

[blackfire]

（ there is some old instinct that he had cultivated for survival's sake that sees the weakness for what it is and wants to press on the fracture until it gives beneath his hands. like a shark scenting blood in the water. he is quite certain he could force kakashi to tell him in any number of ways, each more horrific than the last, and it takes deliberate choice to set that urge aside.

he does not look away from kakashi's gaze, but something softens in his expression. it is obvious, then, that he chooses his words with care. his voice is low, controlled as is his custom but he does not disguise the concern. ）

I am not asking to be cruel, or from some macabre curiosity. You've changed. I am trying to divine the cause.

（ he is silent a time. then, in explanation — ）

I had struck a deal that Konoha was not to be touched with a mutual acquaintance of ours — Uchiha Madara. It seems he wasted no time once I was removed from the equation in reneging on our agreement. I — （ there is the faintest of slips, the word catching like the subtle twist of a knife against ribs. no one not a shinobi would be aware, and perhaps no one but kakashi would understand the depths of the emotion conveyed in that stifled tremor. ） — am sorry for it. That is all.

（ his failure. his fault. the fate he had spared konoha all those years ago come home to roost. what a fool he was, to sacrifice everything for nothing. ）

[shumi]

( he's changed, has he?

he wouldn't consider itachi a sound judge of what his character should be like, not after so many years have passed between them. but he doesn't fault him for whatever alarm he may feel from his current attitude. after all, he was quite adamant on emphasizing loyalty and teamwork back then.

he still is. ultimately, it is the environment and the people within it that has changed, not him. )

I witnessed the obliteration of our village and the chaos that unfolded upon Pain's assault. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but if you believe that is the root of my objectivity towards matters concerning the crew here, then you're mistaken, Itachi. I've seen far worse atrocities in my life. Something like that, no matter how horrible it was, isn't enough to shake my resolve or my beliefs.

( he quiets for a moment as his eye casts downward. recalling one of his earliest exchanges with itachi after his arrival here, kakashi realizes that he should clarify on some points, now that he is no longer as angry and distrustful of his former kouhai. )

Besides, ( his tone lightens as he gives a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders — a sudden ease in the tense mood. ) it all worked out in the end. Naruto saved the village. Everyone survived. We're currently in the process of rebuilding, so... ( he wants to say that itachi has nothing to be sorry for, but it wouldn't be truthful of him. ) what proceeded after your death is not your responsibility. The Nine Tails has always been a target. It was purely strategic of Uchiha Madara to aim for Konoha in order to lure Naruto out. Pain failed though.

[blackfire]

（ so, kakashi meets compassion with a dismissive lecture. itachi looks at him a moment, expression unreadable, and then lets it go. he is not here to babysit the man, after all — each of them must navigate their time here in their own ways. whatever annoyance he feels melts away, taken by the water. ）

Nara Shikamaru was present prior to your being here. I gathered that Konoha was rebuilt.

（ shikamaru had not told him it was destroyed, but then he was from a time well past it. it would have been ancient news for a shinobi accustomed to facing some new threat with each passing hour. ）

[shumi]

Shikamaru? ( that catches him by surprise. ) For how long?

[blackfire]

Three months.

（ it is still strange to him, to see members of sasuke's cohort grown. but it had been a gift — to know that no matter what else may have transpired, sasuke survived to see nineteen.

he wipes his hands thoughtfully on the towel, and then: ）

He was several years ahead of you, unless I miss my guess. Aged approximately nineteen or twenty.

[shumi]

( nineteen or twenty, huh? that would be in another three, four years.

he doesn't know whether it's better or not to ask, but... )

Did he... mention Naruto or Sasuke to you?

[blackfire]

'He survived', he said of Sasuke. Of Uzumaki Naruto, that he is the same as ever. 'Still an idiot'.

（ precious little, all things considered. but enough. ）