endgames | 015 -- [Action || Voice]

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015 -- [Action || Voice]

[Shikamaru is heading out to train in the forest today. Should anyone run into him out there, they'll be in for an interesting sight.

Deer. Not a lot of them at once - and fancy that, none are being slaughtered - and while at first skittish hearing footsteps, they don't run away from him when he approaches them. In fact, they come closer to him when they see what he's brought - apples and sembei biscuits. It took a lot of work getting these deer to trust him - he has no intention of taming them, but they're not like the ones his clan raises back home on their land that are just used to his presence either. The Nara are deer tenders, however, so Shikamaru's picked up more than a few tricks over the years. He'll walk about the forest for a while longer, feeding them as he goes.

Eventually, he'll find the deer he was looking for and get down to his training - which is half the reason why he worked so hard to get the deer used to him. They make excellent picks to practice his shadow jutsus with, though he'll stick with just the Kage Mane for now. When he's done there, he'll cut through town and back to CH1.

...don't mind the bloodstains - dried, not his - down the back of his flak jacket if you see him. He'd have left it back in his room, but it's easier to store his weapons in the vest, and with Sasuke back in Luceti he's keeping those on him at all times, yes.]

[Filtered to Sokka || 100% Unhackable]

You at the smithy today?

[Filtered to Itachi || 100% Unhackable]

[...

...yeah, actually, he's got nothing. He closes the journal without a word.]

[The next day, however, after he's recovered his chakra, Shikamaru will be making a trip to the roof of CH2, looking for the garden Itachi kept before he disappeared from Luceti, curious if he'll still find it there. Or him, if he's even still in the building. No, he doesn't care that it's pouring rain out there - if he gives any more thought to this than he already has, he's going to be sick to his stomach.]

[ooc: action for both the nineteenth and the twentieth! Obviously the bit with the deer is while the weather was still decent.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He knows he's merely delaying the inevitable.]

Is there?

Some might say truth is in the eye of the beholder.

Like with your brother? He seems convinced.

Of course he's convinced.

Madara never fails to be convincing.

Right, just another thing to thank him for.

[And everything comes back to Madara, doesn't it? He's another piece to this puzzle that Shikamaru has spent far too much time thinking over.]

Manipulative... dangerous... Not a very trustworthy guy, is he?

You can trust him to always be serving his own interests.

[It just so happened that telling the truth had been in his best interests this time. Some of the truth, anyway.]

And getting Sasuke to go along with him definitely serves his own interests. Tch. You'd think he'd know when someone just wants to use him by now.

[Say what he will about Sasuke... there is that. He's a fool, but he's not exactly stupid, either.]

It's convenient he had a story like that to convince him so thoroughly. [His tone doesn't change, but his expression becomes a little blanker. These are all thoughts he's had before, but the more he talks to Itachi, the more he's beginning to think he's onto something.] Unless it wasn't a lie, in which case you gotta wonder how he found out about it. You seem so tight-lipped about it, after all.

Having a certain amount of involvement in the matter would make it easier for someone to twist the details.

[If there was one thing Madara didn't do, it was pull nonsense out of his ass.]

To twist them, and to know which ones to leave alone. [Details he shouldn't have had unless he was there. And he's thought about all this before.]

Heh. You know, it'd be a lot easier for us both if you could just be straight-forward about this, instead of just confirming one-by-one all of my suspicions.

Shikamaru-san.

[He actually sighs now, rubbing at his forehead.]

By all rights I should be dead and these matters should have never come under discussion. I'm sure you can see why I'm less than thrilled with having to discuss them with those who shouldn't have even been involved.

You think I'm any happier about it? I- [He snaps his mouth shut, recognizing the childishness of it before he says more. It's not fair to him - uneasy - clueless, sick - as this has made him for the past few days, it's nothing compared to what Itachi has had to live with in the years since it happened.] Sorry.

...it's not like I can change what I know, though. And if Sasuke is holding this against everyone in Konoha, I don't want to. [Not if Sasuke is going to be coming after his friends. He needs all the facts he can get if that happens.]

...I don't need the whole story. I've worked out most of it by now. [He's confident of that - too many of the little nuances about Itachi that didn't make sense before suddenly fitting so well now. His actions in Luceti, the way he talks; too many pieces, all falling into place.]

I won't ask you why it happened. [Why Konoha ordered it; why Itachi followed those orders. He has nothing but theories, but he knows there had to have been a reason behind it. He just needs to trust it was a good reason.] But there's just two things I need to know besides that. Answer me those, and I'll never mention this again.

[Itachi is tired of all this already, and he knows there will only be more and more questions from others in the future.

But that weariness isn't something he needs to show Shikamaru.]

Ask.

Is there anyone else you know of who'd know about this besides those who were involved? [And just to clarify who he thinks were involved:] You, the two old geezers, Danzou, The Third, and Madara.

[Of course, there's no way of telling if there's anyone else Madara decided to run his mouth to. Besides Sasuke, he knows he told Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato.

Would there have been anyone Konoha would've shared that information with, though? It's like he told Naruto - this was obviously a better kept secret than him being the container for the Kyuubi, and there was an actual law in place for that. Was it the kind of secret they were planning on taking to their graves?

...or was it something that would have needed to be passed on to certain people. Like the new jonin commander, or the next Hokage (who'd put together the units for the Niju Shotai - the Akatsuki Hunters). His frown deepens - or anyone, just anyone.

At least he's certain Asuma wouldn't have known, if Kakashi didn't. The Third was a good man - his son didn't need another issue with him to take to his grave after he'd finally made his peace with the rest of them.

There were more kids in that clan than Sasuke.]

Not from our world.

[Itachi shakes his head.]

But it seems whatever version of me was here before was a little more... open with this information. One or two citizens of Luceti may still be at least somewhat aware.

[...that's very interesting, on more than one level. Curious as he is, he won't ask who they are though - it'd just be a waste of his second question. Unless Sasuke gives him a reason to, he's not looking into this any further than he has to.

It's not like Itachi would answer him anyways. It has to be bad enough that two people he'd never heard of until coming to Luceti knew his life story from the moment they met him.]

...I guess it's not of much consequence then, so long as they're not telling anyone else. It's not like they can pull any strings with it back home.

[He works very hard to keep the relief out of his shoulders. Yes, there's a chance Itachi could be lying. Friend or enemy, you should never take a ninja just on his word. Deceit is just a part of their game.

But it's the best he's going to get, under the circumstances. And he'd like to think that people like Tsunade and his dad would handle things differently if they knew something about this.]

[To that, Itachi just nods once, slowly. Then he sits and patiently waits for the other ninja to ask his next question.]

As for the last question... [Right. Breathe in and out. His expression gains back some of that focus he lost earlier.]

Is this how you want to live your life?

[Now that's just prying into matters you needn't concern yourself with, Shikamaru.]

I'm... still getting used to the idea of having a life to live.

[He can't help it. It's in his nature.]

I got that from you before, in more or less words. What I'm talking about is what you want. There shouldn't be much change, between this world and ours. Besides what Luceti won't allow.

[That his death has come up so many times in just this discussion alone makes it clear that he might just have preferred that is becoming a given. But you can't tell him there wasn't a single day after you left the village that was spent wanting something something different out of life.

...or maybe you can. He thinks the garden indicates otherwise, though.]

[This isn't an easy subject.]

What I want, Shikamaru-san, is for everything to have gone as I spent so many years planning it to go. What I want is for my brother to be able to move on with his life.

[What he wants is to not have to feel guilt at the thought of being able to enjoy a somewhat peaceful life here.]

[This answers half his question, at least.]

It would be nice. [It's what a lot of people have wanted for him too, over the years. Naruto, Saukra, Kakashi. ...even Ino.]

But not much either you or I can do about that one. People aren't like shogi pieces - they move as they like. [Luceti isn't the only world this plan failed in. Sasuke is Sasuke - he will always do as he chooses.] Che. He stands a better chance of being able to do that here than back at home, you know?

I've thought about that, yes.

If he actually remains here long enough. [He'd made it clear to him when he was there last that he wanted to keep him from returning to their world, and his brother hadn't exactly been appreciative.]

[All this serves is to remind him that there's nothing permanent about this place. Whatever happens, Sasuke is still making a mess of things back home.]

Temporary peace is better than none at all. If he can find it for however long he's here, he should. [He takes his hands out of his pockets, and folds his arms over his chest.] You too, if you want it.

[Do you want it?]

[You're stepping into an area too personal for you, Shikamaru. Itachi isn't yet ready to speak to you on that matter.]

...Have you finished your questions?

[It was part of the question.]

You only answered half of the last one. I asked you if this is how you want to live your life. [It's a broad question, he knows. He was hoping to get as much out of it as he could.] To put it bluntly... I need to know if this is really how you want things to stay between yourself and everyone from home; them thinking of you as a traitor.

[What he does after this is dependent on that answer.]

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